Dawn Chartier's Blog ~ Lagniappe for Readers and Writers

New Orleans Writers Conference coming to town...you don't want to miss this one!

2012-02-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on Twitter and FB you know I've been busy as heck working on the 1st FF&P "Fantasy On The Bayou" writers conference and book signing.

Where: Marriott 555 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA
When: March 2-4, 2012

Why you ask? Well, first it's because the New Orleans region doesn't get too many writers conferences coming into town. Normally we have Heather Graham's (which is wonderful by the way) for Labor Day weekend, and then the jubilee conference in Houma. Other than that, there is really nothing else that I know of. So, being a FF&P member,(no you don't need to be a member to come) I decided I would volunteer to help out. (that's what us southern girls do. lol) Well, somehow I'm now Co-Chair along with Staci McGlothlin who is amazing! And with the help of other FF&P members the moment has come. Woot! Can't wait!

And second, who doesn't want to come to New Oleans? This is the best place in the world to get inspired, eat the best food and the locals are just super friendly! Just don't stray into a dark alley with them...they might suck on your neck...

The conference starts off with workshops on Friday, a agent/editor panel Q&A and then for those who sign up a vampire/ghost tour. (I've been and loved it)

Saturday is filled with loads of things to do all included. Pitches/Workshops/Luncheon with keynote speaker, Karen Moning/Workshops/Dinner (cash bar not included) and then your on your own to party or write if you are inspired. (or just hand out with me) Sunday morning will be the book signing. Then back to the real world.

So if you want to join us, go sign up! There is still room available. www.fantasyonthebayou.blogspot.com

You never know. You might just meet your future agent or publisher!

Diamond Diva's over at The Book Boost today!

2012-01-26T15:27:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot I'm over at The Book Boost today giving away the second (and last) Tivoli Heart Necklace (see pics of necklace on my older posts).

If you want to win, check out The Book Boost rules. (I'm chatting about the Golden Globe, but really more about the dresses.)

Good luck! And if you win, Diamonds (the ebook), please let me know what you think. I'm always happy to hear from my readers. Good luck everyone!

Hugs,
Dawn

Winners Announced for the Tivoli Heart Necklace and Ebook....

2012-01-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

NOTICE::::MY GUEST POST ON THE BOOKBOOST BLOGSPOT HAS BEEN POSTPONED. I'll let you know when my post is up for your 2nd chance at the necklace and ebook. Sorry for the delay....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First, I want to thank everyone for swinging by my DIAMONDS Release Party and wishing me well. It truly means a lot! "Thank ya. Thank ya. Thank ya."

Second, if you haven't read my comments on some of the posts below, Not An Angel is up on Amazon for FREE, today only. Go grab your copy if you like Paranormal Romance.

Third, if you don't win the Tivoli Heart Necklace today, you have another chance! That's right. I have (2) Tivoli Necklaces and the 2nd one will be given away over at The Book Boost! (I'll keep you posted when the blog goes up)for another shot at winning!!!) http://www.thebookboost.blogspot.com/

Okay, now on to the winners: (drum role please...........)

Susan Laine!!!! Winner of the Tivoli Heart Necklace.
(Susan, please email me your address - www.dawn@dawnchartier.com ) Congrats!

CherThib!!!! Winner of my novella, DIAMONDS. Congrats! I hope you enjoy!
(email me your address...www.dawn@dawnchartier.com)

Winners please email me by Sunday (1/22/12) at midnight or I will have to pick another winner.

Good luck and Thank you again so much for all the support!

Dawn
DIAMONDS, OUT NOW!

Diamonds Release Party ~ Win a Tivoli Heart Necklace or free ebook!

2012-01-18T04:56:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! Break out the Bailey's and Beignets! (or whatever you enjoy).

My second novella, Diamonds (1st novella in the Stiletto Millionaire Club Series) was released today and I want to celebrate with a gift for two people who leave a meaningful comment. Because the story is about Holly and her diamond necklace, the first prize is a Tivoli Heart Necklace and the second prize is a free copy of my novella, Diamonds. Good luck. Check back tomorrow to see who won.

(Isn't the locket cute!)

Blurb for Diamonds:

Self-made millionaire Holly Charleston has come a long way since her homeless days. Sometimes, she believes life would have been simpler before fortune and fame. With every man she meets imagining dollar signs, she yearns for the one man who sees the real Holly. A mysterious wealthy stranger may be the one, but she must control her sexsomnia and trust issues if she hopes for a real chance at love.

Professional thief Drake Davenport is ready to begin an honest life. However, his last assignment leads him to steal the heart diamond necklace from a woman known as Ms. Frost. But Holly guards her heart close and her assets closer. Once Holly thaws to Drake's seduction attempts, he finds himself in a position of protecting her from a hired mercenary or living the life he believes he earned. Drake realizes the challenge of stealing the diamond is nothing compared to the challenge of stealing Holly's heart.

Latest Reviews, Interviews and Blogs spots I visited....

2012-01-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

This last week was insane. Seriously. I couldn't keep up with the reviews, interviews and guest blog spots. So instead of sending out a bunch of posts I decided to post it all in one blog.

Below are a few places where Not An Angel was in the spotlight.

Jan 12th - Interview - www.bookbagsandcatnaps.com
Jan 12th - Review and Interview - www.placeofreeds.blogspot.com
Jan 13th - Guest Blog - www.gnbstacks.blogspot.com
Jan 14th - Guest Blog and Review - www.roroisreading.blogspot.com
Jan 14th - Review - www.toreadperchancetodream.blogspot.com
Jan 15th - Review - www.wowfromthescarfprincess.blogspot.com
Jan 15th - Review & Guest Blog - www.saphsbookblog.blogspot.com
Jan 15th - Interview - www.donnasbloghome.blogspot.com
Jan 15th - Review - www.niinas-reading-and-reviewing.blogspot.com

Jan 18th - RELEASE PARTY HERE FOR DIAMONDS! WOOT! JEWELRY AND FREE EBOOK!

And coming up Jan 19th (Thursday) - I'm over at The Book Boost http://www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

New Review in for Not An Angel from Place Of Reeds...

2012-01-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

My latest review from Place of Reeds by Cana. (Thank you, Cana!)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Life hasn’t been easy for Kira. After loosing her husband and child, and her brother-in-law going psycho-obsessive, she finds herself on the edge of a bridge in an attempt to end her life.
Trace, a Poryria Vampire Guardian, was not expecting to save a woman, let alone not being able to leave her side. He struggles with the darkness of his past, and the potential darkness of his future.
It is only when they both accept their bond with each other and face the darkness together that they can win the battle, but will they figure it out in time?

I think this was a great book. It wasn’t a hard read, kept up a good pace, and had a good flow. I, of course, really enjoyed the characters through out this book. Kira was a great character. She has always taken care of herself, and has always been strong for herself. But through out this book, she has to learn how to depend on Trace to be strong for her as well as how to be strong for Trace. Trace is the big, strong, good looking vampire. Who doesn’t like that? But it is more than that. He wants to protect Kira, even sometimes against her will. But he isn’t perfect. He struggles with his own burdens about his past, and his potential of becoming a Vry.

I found some of the other characters great for additional entertainment. The Queen (loved the play on Scottish history! Best use of history in a paranormal novel for me in a while!) was a strong, controlling woman of power. She didn’t mind men, but the Queen B comes out when women arrive. Mike, brother dearest, I think is the character with the most potential to grow (a plus for the next book, hint hint). Mike’s attitude towards humans and towards Poryrias was an interesting blend.

I only had 2 disappointments with this book. 1, it wasn’t long enough. I could have gone with another 50-70 pages. I feel like some of the information they gave could have been expanded on (but, maybe this is just the opening for several more books!). 2, I would have loved a glossary of terms/traditions. There was so much about the Poryria and the Vry that I would have liked to have had a glossary to turn to for additional information.

On a whole, I really loved this book. I highly recommend this book to others.

Happy Reading!
Cana

******
Hugs to you, Cana for this very sweet review. And read the interview if too if you get the chance!

Guest Blogging @ Rage, Sex and Teddy Bears today!

2012-01-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

The NOT AN ANGEL book tour continues.

Today I'm over at Rage, Sex and Teddy Bears!

Stop by and say hello!

Bewitching Book Tours: Now On Tour Not An Angel by Dawn Chartier

2012-01-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Bewitching Book Tours: Now On Tour Not An Angel by Dawn Chartier

NOT AN ANGEL TOUR STARTS TODAY! WOOT!

2012-01-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

The Not An Angel Tour has begun. Yay!
Here is my schedule. If you would like to follow I would love to have the company.

Jan 9th - Gravetells.com
Jan 9th - Laura Kaye Author - www.laurakayeauthor.blogspot.com
Jan 10th - Rage, Sex and Teddy Bears - www.ragesexandteddybears.blogspot.com
Jan 11th - Reading Between The Wines Book Club - www.readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.blogspot.com
Jan 11th - Picked By Poison - www.pickedbypoison.blogspot.com
Jan 11th - Ramblings from This Chick (must get the website/blog addy)

Those are just a few in the first few days...I've got more...lol

Hope to see you there! And if someone comes back to my blog here and comments on something they saw on those sites I'll enter you in a chance to win 2 books! Not An Angel and Diamonds! Woot! Good luck...

Dawn

Q&A Interview's for DIAMONDS (and see why I'm such a goof sometimes)

2012-01-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

For my first interview(s) for my first contemporary erotic romance novella, Diamonds, I totally goofed. I scheduled two interviews on the same day, but that’s not the problem.

The problem is I thought they were the same blogger, and used one bloggers questions/answers for both blogs. Don’t ask. *shakes head* I saved the file as romanceinterview1-5. (Duh!)

This is authors (Or maybe it’s just me) need someone to set up blog tours for them. Thankfully, both bloggers got a kick out of it and were very understanding. (Thank you, ladies)

So if you get a chance, please stop by one or both places (If you dare to read it twice) and leave a comment for a chance to win Diamonds before it’s released. (Yes, I’m totally embarrassed! But I’m still thrilled with the upcoming release. I think the cover is pretty too, but it's my baby so who knows.) lol

http://www.romancing-the-book.com/2012/01/interview-contest-dawn-chartier.html

http://romrevtoday.blogspot.com/

Hugs,
Dawn
DIAMONDS, coming Jan 18th – SirenBookStrand.com

Happy New Year! (with a sweet review!)

2012-01-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

In a couple of weeks I'll be busy pimping 2 books at the same time.

Not sure how that happened, er, yeah I do. I screwed up. lol
I signed on to a week blog tour for Not An Angel, and it so happens to be the same week Diamonds is coming out. Diamonds was scheduled the first week of January, but it was pushed back. Oh boy. I can do it, no problem-oh. lol. I look forward to the challenge. :-)

Anyway, not sure if I shared this very sweet review of Not An Angel I found on Booked Up!

Or you can just read it here.

Reviewer: Dolce Amore

After I read the book summary I was very interested in reading the book. I mean, who can resist when the heroine is a damsel in distress and the hero is a vampire? Not me, I swear.

The book captivated me from the start; the descriptions were so impressive that I felt like I was there, seeing it all thru Kira’s eyes, suffering the pain she was feeling. And when she tried to commit suicide, I was there with her… understanding why she tried to do it. And who won’t understand it after losing her little daughter and her husband?

But Trace Stuart was there too and he saved her. Because of that a bond was created between them and they started to dream of each other, sharing their dreams. It wasn’t supposed to be able to happen with a human, but it did.

Then we find out that the death of Kira’s loved ones wasn’t an accident and a suicide, but murder and that the criminal wants her dead too. Trace discovers things from his past that now threaten his present with Kira. Will they succeed in fighting the evil that wants them dead?

It was a wonderful book, and I enjoyed it very much. I would have liked there to have been more details about the death of Kira’s daughter, this part was a little bit confusing to me, but the rest of the book was great. I will wait impatiently for the next book of Ms. Dawn Chartier, as she has become one of my favorite writers. I give it 4.5 stars.

Thank you so much, Dolce.

Dawn

New Cover for DIAMONDS ~ Loving it!

2011-12-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

I got a present today from my publisher, and I love it...(will be released January 18th, 2012)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays...

2011-12-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm sitting in bed with a tummy and back ache. Both were self-inflicted. First, I ate too much at our office luncheon party (corn and crab bisque. Yum!), then I came home and wrapped gifts for several hours straight.

As I look around my bedroom, I realize it looks like a tornado hit or like my daughter switched rooms with me. lol

Boxes, bags, wrapping paper, tissue, name tags, and gifts are everywhere. It took me 10 minutes just to clear off the bed so I could get in. Insane I tell ya.

And what is even more insane is getting my 2nd round edits today. It shouldn't be a real problem though because it doesn't appear to be much. However, the holidays are here, and we are having Christmas at our house this year. It will work out - it always does.

Okay, eyes are closing. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!
Hoping you find some really awesome books to read or a sweet contract!

Dawn
Not An Angel, Out now! (Amazon)
Diamonds, Jan 2012 (Siren Bookstrand)

Preternatura: From the ROYAL STREET Photo Album: Christmas at Tu...

2011-12-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Preternatura: From the ROYAL STREET Photo Album: Christmas at Tu...: Before I head to New Orleans, a quick note: Over at the Booksake blog, Jessica is featuring Royal Street as her Waiting on Wednesday feat...

FANTASY ON THE BAYOU (FF&P CONFERENCE) March 2-4, 2012

2011-12-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

FANTASY ON THE BAYOU – NEW ORLEANS, LA
THE FIRST FF&P CONFERENCE – MARCH 2-4, 2012

FEATURING
KAREN M. MONING, KEYNOTE SPEAKER
BOB MAYER
KRISTEN PAINTER
LEANNA RENEE HIEBER
Plus many more amazing authors…

AGENTS
BECCA STUMPF – PROSPECT AGENCY
ELAINE SPENCER – THE KNIGHT AGENCY
MICHELLE BROWER – FOLIO LITERARY
PAUL LUCAS – JANKLOW & NESBIT
SARA MEGIBOW – NELSON AGENCY (VIRTUAL PITCHES)

EDITORS
ANGELA JAMES, CARINA PRESS
MELISSA SINGER - TOR
LIZ PELLETIER – ENTANGLED PUBLISHING
G.G. ROYALE – LOOSE ID
DONNA O’BRIEN – CRESCENT MOON PRESS (VIRTUAL PITCHES)
RENEE ROCCO – LYRICAL PRESS (VIRTUAL PITCHES)

A FEW FESTIVITIES YOU CAN DO IN THE BIG EASY: (MORE TO COME)
PITCHES, LOADS OF WORKSHOPS, LUNCH, DINNER, GOODY BAGS, GHOST/VAMPIRE TOUR, SCAVENGER HUNT, BOOKFAIR/AUTOGRAPHS, NETWORKING, AND IF YOU ARE UP TO IT, PARTYING ON BOURBON STREET AND TAKING IN THE CRAZY SIGHTS!

HOTEL INFO ON WEBSITE: NEW ORLEANS MARRIOTT – 555 CANAL STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LA.

FOR QUESTIONS & PROMO OPPORTUNITIES CONTACT: STACI MCGLOTHLIN – MCGLOTS @ GMAIL.COM OR DAWN CHARTIER – DAWN @ DAWNCHARTIER.COM
OR CONFERENCE @ ROMANCE-FFP.COM (no spaces in the email names)

$250 FF&P MEMBER
$300 GENERAL
$250 MEDIA

REGISTER HERE: http://www.romance-ffp.com/2012Conference/index.cfm
WEBSITE: WWW.ROMANCE-FFP.COM
(The above list is subject to change)

PLEASE SHARE THIS CONFERENCE INFO WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO WRITES! IT'S GOING TO BE AN AMAZING CONFERENCE....

Great Goal Setting article by Theresa Meyer's

2011-12-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

I found this article this morning over at Savvy Authors. It's a must read for those who are getting in their own way of getting published.

2012 Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal (FF&P) Conference

2011-12-01T13:05:00.001-08:00

Thought I'd share a wonderful conference coming to New Orleans in March 2012. Writers/Authors/Agents/Editors of every genre' are welcome to join us!

CLICK THIS LINK AND IT WILL BRING YOU TO THE REGISTRATION PAGE:
FANTASY, FUTURISTIC AND PARANORMAL - 2012 FANTASY ON THE BAYOU CONFERENCE

.99 cents vampire romance e-book sale!

2011-11-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

In honor of the holidays I cut the price of NOT AN ANGEL to .99 cents...

The price will go back to $2.99 once the holidays are over.

Happy Holidays,
Dawn
Not An Angel, Amazon Kindle, ARe
DIAMONDS, coming Jan. 2012, Sire BookStrand

Thanksgiving already? No!

2011-11-15T05:26:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready for the holidays.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a scrooge are anything, but this year has flown by and all my goals weren't met. Bummer dude!

I did reach a few goals, such as I lost 20 pounds,(great to get back in my old jeans) and I sold another book, (Yay! Diamonds will be out in January 2012, with Siren BookStrand) but I still haven't completed my "Buried Magic" book, and you know what? That's okay with me.

Why is this book so much harder than the rest of them? Well, I think it's because I had an idea, and wrote the book based on that idea. It wasn't plotted out very well & the characters were so-so. Okay, it sucked!

I knew I had a good unique twist with my idea. I even had a couple of top notch agents request it and read it, but they saw through the holes, but at least they were kind enough to request the revised copy once it was done. (Thank you Kevan and Daniel)

Now...I'm on my third draft, and with the help of three wonderful crit buddies,(buddies who have wonderful talents) my characters are finally taking on a "real life" of their own. And I'm finally getting somewhere, and even though it's not done, and won't be done for 2011, I will have it finished in 2012. It will be the story editors and agents want. Buried Magic is my new goal for 2012. I will get er' done! lol

Now my next little goal is to make a Thanksgiving food list. This shouldn't be hard, right?

What about you? Have any goals you know you won't reach this year, but your willing to take it to next 2012 and not give up?

Author Signing and Luncheon, Baton Rouge, LA

2011-11-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

This Saturday I'll be at HeartLa's Reader Luncheon in Baton Rouge along with some wonderful authors and friends. C'mon and join the fun! I've got some cool looking Romance Trading Cards to give away. If you don't know what RTC's are google them...lol

Luncheon/Signing Location:

Juban's
3739 Perkins Road
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808
Itinerary (Saturday, November 5, 2011)
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. - Check-in and mingling
11:45 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Luncheon
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Book signings and more mingling

Authors scheduled to appear:

Sabrina Jeffries (speaker)
Melanie Atkins
Christee Atwood
Nancy S. Brandt
Laura Burks
Dawn Chartier
Eleanor Cocreham
Cheré Coen
Barbara Colley
Claudette Conn writing as Claudy Conn
Kimberly Frost
Deborah LeBlanc
Rhonda McKey writing as Rhonda Leah
Arlene Messa writing as Anne Clayre Mason
Farrah Rochon
June Shaw
Carla Hostetter writing as Lynn Shurr
Josephine Templeton
Robin Wells
Ursula Whistler

Website: http://www.heartla.com/luncheon/index.htm

Interview at Earth's Book Nook... Come join me...

2011-11-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.earthsbooknook.blogspot.com/

On Wednesday (11/2/11) find me over at Earth's Book Nook.

Halloween Blog -

2011-10-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

If your looking to read some great stories for Halloween and maybe find a few new authors too, check out http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/

I'll be there sharing my freaking ghost story again, so if you missed it over at Rachel's blog, come on over to The Goddess Fish Halloween Party!

Tomorrow I'll be in a writers workshop all day long, then I have a Halloween wedding to go to, so if I don't reply to your comment on the Goddess Fish blog, I'll do my best to check in along the way.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Cover Questionnaire (Check!)

2011-10-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought filling out a Cover Questionnaire would be so darn hard. I scrolled through tons of pictures on several photo sites.

I couldn't find my hero and heroine anywhere. Finally, I found this website (Deviantart.com) that had some really interesting pictures, and their they (my Holly and Drake) were. Only thing I didn't like were the tattoo's and flowers. Don't get me wrong, tattoo's are fine, just not on Holly Charleston. This is the couple (picture) I want, I'm not saying this is the picture the publisher will get, but a girl can hope right?

After finding a beach photo and diamond photo, I also had to write a 25 word blurb, a 50 word blurb, and a 150 word blurb. You think this is easy? Not. The 25 word was the hardest, but I did it.

Anyway, let me know what you think of this couple. Do you think they will make a sexy book cover? (minus the flowers and tats)

Dawn Chartier
DIAMONDS, releasing Jan. 2012, Siren BookStrand

Yay! A book offer for DIAMONDS!

2011-10-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

I already spread the wonderful news on FB and Twitter, but I haven't shared it here yet.

Anyway, I got an offer for DIAMONDS, a contemporary erotic romance story set in Destiny, Florida. DIAMONDS is the first novella in a 3 book series. The series is called, The Stiletto Millionaire Club.

What's that? Well, it's about 3 women (actually 4 best friends) who are very financially secure. (for now) But why would anyone want to read about rich women you ask? Because they have loads of problems just like everyone else. Problems that money can't fix, and they deserve to find out like the rest of us that money can't buy love. All these ladies want is true love, and a strong man who will stand up for them if needed. It doesn't matter if he's the guy cutting their grass or the UPS delivery guy, or a sexy masked thief. (hint hint) As long as his heart is in the right place, magic will happen. (not they paranormal kind of magic. The magic of love.) If you want paranormal magic, read NOT AN ANGEL.

DIAMONDS, is scheduled for release around Jan. 2012, but I have a feeling with the holidays, it might be closer to Feb. 2012, but who knows. Siren might be the publisher to get er' done quick.

I hope readers will enjoy DIAMONDS, Book #1 in The Stiletto Millionaire Club Series. I had soooo much fun writing it.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW! (PARANORMAL ROMANCE)
DIAMONDS, COMING JAN. 2012, SIREN BOOK-STRAND
PEARLS, PLOTTING STAGE
BURIED MAGIC, (WITCH ~ PARANORMAL ROMANCE) REVISION STAGE

Free Book - Suzanne Johnson's Interviewing me at her blog today!

2011-10-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all!

Tor Author, Suzanne Johnson is inteviewing me over at her blog today. Swing by for a chance to win a free book!

And if you are not a follower of Suzanne's --- you should be. She gives away so many books on her blog, she also reviews books, interviews authors, she does it all! lol --- Plus she has a new Wizard series coming out on April 10, 2012. (yes, I read it already, and I loved it!)

Happy reading,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
DIAMONDS, COMING JAN. 2012

Spooky Stories over at Rachel's blog --- Including mine....

2011-10-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

Author Rachel Firasek is sharing some spooky stories on her blog...Swing by and get the chills...

http://www.rachelfirasek.com/2011/10/12/entry-5-voices-in-the-shadow/

http

Preternatura: New Releases Oct. 8-14 and Reader's Choice Contest...

2011-10-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Suzanne Johnson has a lot more books to give away. (some really awesome books, too!)

You might be a lucky winner! Good luck...

Dawn Chartier

Preternatura: New Releases Oct. 8-14 and Reader's Choice Contest...: Are you still reeling from the fifty new releases last week? Me too! My wish list is now officially ridiculous. We have a much calme...

Preternatura: Meet Author Shona Husk and win The Goblin King

2011-10-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

Preternatura: Meet Author Shona Husk and win The Goblin King: If, like me, your image of goblins was formed by too much Harry Potter, you think of them as dark, ugly and dangerous...

Today you can find out some crazy things about me!

2011-09-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of being interviewed over at 2 blogs today. Didn't realize they were both going up today. Oops.

www.smellsheep.blogspot.com

and also here,

http://pageflipperz.blogspot.com/p/author-interviews-guest-posts.html?zx=9797ae5812c2076f
(in the author interview section)

Hope you come by for a chance to win my book, Not An Angel!

Dawn

Join me at Lisasworldofbooks.net

2011-09-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday I'm a guest blogger over at www.Lisasworldofbooks.net - I would love for to drop for a chance to win Not An Angel.

See you there.

Dawn

Self-publish update and Sola meeting recap....

2011-09-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

The sales are doing better than I expected, so that's a good thing. But the only thing I hadn't thought about was promo. How would I get the word out that I self-published a book that had been previously published with another publisher?

Well, I spoke to a few friends and they are willing to give me a hand and put me on their blogs and such. A few friends are doing shout out's for me too. I love my buddies! Thank you!

Now, lets talk about Sola. The meeting today was pretty interesting. We had a panel of speakers talk about the things they got out of RWA National. The highlights, their favorite class or workshop, or panel, and a lot of other things. The main thing I wanted to know was was it worth the money? Especially in NY. They all said yes. So, there you go. If you are thinking about going next year, our panel said it was worth it. Next year I think it's in California. I'm not sure if I'm going to go or not yet, but I am attending the first FFandP Conference (Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal) in March 2012 in New Orleans!

The FFandP conference will be amazing. Karen M. Moning will be there and also, Diana Rowland and many many many more authors. And this trip will be much cheaper than RWA. They will have editors and agents as well! It's going to be great!

That's about all. Oh, I'll be adding several blogs were I'll be dropping by, and I hope you'll come and say hello. I'll be giving away a free copy of NOT AN ANGEL on each blog.

Or if you'd rather purchase it, that's cool too. It's available at Amazon Kindle for only $2.99

Hugs,
Dawn

So how's that self-pubbing going you ask...hmm...

2011-09-14T05:48:00.000-07:00

Well, NOT AN ANGEL just went live and I'm happy to say it's going much better than I expected. I sold about a dozen books (within a little over 24 hrs.), and I think that is pretty darn good numbers. The only problem is, I'm addicted to checking those numbers all day long. lol I gotta stop the madness!

If you buy NOT AN ANGEL,(available at amazon.com/kindlebooks) please feel free to contact me. I love hearing from readers, so give me a shout out. dawn@dawnchartier.com

Now off to write the next Poryria book.

Dawn Chartier

Just released!!! NOT AN ANGEL, out now!

2011-09-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

If you missed your chance to purchase NOT AN ANGEL with my former publisher, the e-book is back for sale on Amazon.com for $2.99

I hope you enjoy!
Dawn Chartier

New Cover ~ Not An Angel

2011-08-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share my new cover for Not An Angel. Why is there a new cover you ask? And what happened to the other one?

Well, I couldn't use the same one the publisher had used, and because I got the rights back, I needed a new design for when I self-publish. I'm so excited leaping into the self-publishing world with Trace & Kira's story. I see this as an adventure. And I'm curious to know what you think of the new Trace too.

I'm hoping to have Not An Angel uploaded to Amazon & B&N before the end of the month.

Hurricane ready? Things they don't tell you to prepare...

2011-08-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Living in New Orleans I always considered myself being hurricane ready, until the big one came. I don't have to say her name do I?

Anyway, you think to pack for the weekend and you'll be back home in no time.
This is not always the case and I don't want you to be like me, unprepared for the worse. Prepare now! Here is a list I wish I would have had while planning to evacuate at the last minute. (meaning don't wait until the last minute)

1.) Bring more than 3 days worth of clothes. Pack for a week if you have room.
2.) I would have gone to the pharmacy and filled all our prescriptions.
3.) I would have taken a lot more money.
4.) I would have reserved a room a long time before it was time to evacuate, esp. with the dogs. Only a hand full of hotels would take dogs, so we ended up in a horror movie type motel. Yuck! But I bless them for taking us in.
5.) I would have learned how to TEXT on my cell. The cell phones don't work at all. The systems were down and I couldn't reach 1/2 my family.
6.) Which brings me to #6. Get info on all your family and friends on where they are going. Stay together if you can.
7.) Buy lots and lots of water, batteries, candles, can food, breakfast bars, drinks, etc. (bring some with you, and leave some behind)
8.) Turn your refrigerator to the coldest temp. Your food might last a little longer.
9.) When you are gone, buy tons of ice & food before you come back. (bring ice chest with you when you evacuate.) Oh and don't forget your favorite coffee. Other states may not have what you like. You'll need it if you are staying up driving all night or if you are holed up in a stinky hotel room for days glued to the TV.
10.) Fill up as soon as you know there is a storm coming. The gas lines will be insane!
11.) While away buy several gas containers and fill them. (if you have a trailer, put them on the trailer and not in your car.)
12.) If you can buy a generator before the storm, great! If not, buy one while you are evacuated. (like I said before, buy a small trailer to put behind your vehicle if you can for the gas and generator).
13.) If you have time, get your car oil checked and changed. Check your tires too. Don't want to end up stranded on side the road.
14.) Find a place for your pets way in advance if you can.
15.) Talk with children's schools and see if they have a place online to hear updates about schools. Bring kids books and uniforms.
16.) Did I say bring all important papers such as, insurance, bank info, bills, etc.
17.) Grab your photo albums & keepsake stuff.
18.) Back up your computers on a jump drive. Bring laptop if you can or raise your CPU off the floor. Raise all important things off the floor or put in ziplock bags.
19.) Bring all chargers. Cell phone, etc.
20.) If you have a gun, bring it. I wish we would have. Things got a little crazy coming back to NOLA after Katrina.
21.) Grab one of your phone books from home. If you pretty much know you'll have damage before you get home, call a contractor now and book them before you have to wait in line of a hundred other people. (my hubby is a contractor, so we didn't need this one, but all our friends and clients did.)
22.) Get your elderly loved ones out of harms way. They can't help themselves. Help a neighbor too if you can. Exchange #'s with your neighbors, they might be home before you and can call you or vice versa.
23.) And people, tape does not work, it is useless. Board up instead.
24.) Leave if you can before everyone else leaves. The grid-lock will be hell! (esp. with kids, elderly and animals)

I know I'm missing so many things, but this is enough to get you started. Good luck! I'll keep y'all in my prayers and hope Irene or whatever storm comes your way dies down before reaching you.

There was one good thing that came out of Katrina (oh, I said her name)and that was I started writing, and then became published. She taught me to stop putting life on hold, and grab your dreams and go for it.

Dawn Chartier

Erica Spindler, Sola-Writers August 2011 Speaker

2011-08-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sola-Writers speaker for August 20th.

Presentation: Erica's 5 Must Have Elements For A Killer Thriller

Erica Spindler is an International and New York Times bestselling author of 28 novels. Her latest thriller, WATCH ME DIE, is in stores now. Published in 25 countries, her work has been lauded as "terrific twisted tales" "packed with authentic detail" and "must-reads for suspense fans." Erica lives just outside of New Orleans with her husband and her two sons.

The meeting is this Saturday, August 20th, beginning at 10am. We meet at the east bank branch of the Jefferson Parish Library in Metairie.

Review: ROYAL STREET by Suzanne Johnson

2011-08-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

Royal Street. What can I say? I loved it. Wonderful characters, a great plot and plenty of conflict. Not to mention sexy shape-shifters and pirates.

Drusilla Jaco, known as DJ, is a Green Wizard and a Sentinel in New Orleans. Her boss, Gerry gives her an assignment to capture and send the famous pirate, Jean Lafitte back to the Beyond. Lafitte threatens payback, but she sends him on his way. Then hurricane Katrina comes along, and DJ is ordered to evacuate. We all know what happens to New Orleans after Katrina - it flooded. DJ can’t locate her boss, Gerry, and she’s afraid he’s dead, but she tries to hold on to hope that he’s not. The Elder’s, however, believe Gerry is hiding, and that Gerry betrayed them.

Now DJ’s in charge of the New Orleans area, and her assignments are to send the dead back to the Beyond and plug all the breaches from where they came. Plus she's not giving up hunting for Gerry. Her new partner, Alex Warin is an Enforcer for the Elders, but that’s not all he is – he’s HOT! Alex and DJ spend a lot of time together helping each other along the way. They run into all sorts of problems such as Voodoo and National Guard killings.

I can’t give too many details or I’ll ruin this wonderful story for you. And take it from a reader who’s been hunting for a book such as this one, I don’t want to give anything away. I rarely read novels in one sitting, but I just couldn't stop reading Royal Street. I was fascinated by DJ, Jean Lafitte, her delicious partner, Alex and his sexy cousin, Jake. Oh, I forgot to mention, Louis Armstrong, he’s in there too. As well as a famous restaurateur. Hurricane Katrina has a major role as well.

I’m local to the New Orleans area, and the author couldn't’t have done a better job on creating the suspense and raw emotions of Katrina and the after-math. I remember it well. The book brought tears to my eyes in some scenes and I laughed my butt off in others. Suzanne Johnson is one to watch out for. I don’t care if you love romances, paranormals or urban fantasy books, Royal Street has it all. A perfect blend for everyone, just like a spicy New Orleans gumbo. It’s all in there.

Royal Street will be out in April 2012, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon so you don't forget this one. The next book in this series is called River Road.

Rights returned for NOT AN ANGEL...

2011-08-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

If you were wondering what happened to my book, Not An Angel, I requested my rights back due to the contract coming up for renewal. I plan to put the book back on Amazon & other e-book stores (at a *cheaper* price) as soon as I can, but first I need to make a few changes & add a new cover.

Check back in a week or so. ;-)

Note: Reviewer's please contact me at dawn @ dawnchartier.com (no spaces)

Thanks,
Dawn Chartier

Night Walker - Lisa Kessler (Contest)

2011-08-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

I just bought Night Walker by Lisa Kessler, but if you would like to win a copy, head on over to author, Suzanne Johnson's blog for a chance to win.

Suzanne Johnson holds lots of contest, a great blog to follow! Good luck!

Dawn

The Centurion's Prize by Harper Bennett

2011-07-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

Introducing a fellow Savvy Author member, Harper Bennett...

The Centurion’s Prize by Harper Bennett
Genre(s): Historical Romance
Digital ISBN: 9781937325039
Publication Date: July 18, 2011
Formats: pdf (for Adobe Reader), lit (for Microsoft Reader), mobi (for Mobi and Kindle), epub (for Nook), and html.
Price: $3.99

Blurb:

To save their way of life, enemies must become allies.

In the final days of the Roman Empire, the Celtic princess Nara, daughter of a tribal king, has discovered a secret that will shatter the lives of the people and tribes she holds most dear. Once a sworn enemy of the Centurion Corvinus Aelius Martialis, she must now look to him for help. The Roman’s very presence ignites a powerful and consuming passion within her, one that Nara knows is dangerous and could cost them both their lives…but is she strong enough to resist the Centurion’s all-consuming kiss?

Never one to trust a Celt, let alone a woman, Corvin is taken aback by the bold princess’s bargain. He knows her father is the puppeteer of a very dangerous game involving a rogue band of Rome’s sworn enemies, and he can’t be certain—did the apple fall far from the ambitious, traitorous tree? Or will he claim the fiery princess, body and soul, for his very own?

Set against ancient druidic forests amidst political intrigue and violent betrayal, The Centurion’s Prize is a tale of a love that could save two worlds—or destroy everything in its path.

Bio:

Harper Bennett has her own happily ever after going on in the wilds of Alaska with her husband and children. Earning her MFA in creative writing in 2002 taught her nothing more than student loans were inherently evil and that her passion would never lie in the tomes of literary fiction. Her stories will always require a “happily ever after” with plenty of sweaty lust thrown in for good measure.

Along the way, Harper has been everything from an overnight radio disc jockey to a professional MMA fighter and has learned that no matter the circumstances, life is always one big adventure waiting to be had.

You can find her at http://www.harperbennett.com/ and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/HarperWrites). She also checks her e-mail obsessively and would love to hear from you: harper.bennett@gmail.com.

Excerpt:

“You are not in danger as long as you are under my protection,” he said when they were clear of the gate. “Do not fear my soldiers.”

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I am rendered unconscious,” she whispered.

Her hand was soft and warm in his. Try as he might to concentrate on the short journey to the magistrate’s home, Corvin’s thoughts centered on the skin-to-skin contact between them. Nara’s hand was not limp. It was not passive. Corvin could not help but notice she grasped his hand with a strong grip and held tight.

The walk was short—too short. Soon, the dark sky that melded with the darkness of the trees and the cover of branches gave way to paths lined with braziers leading Cadeyrn’s palace. In the distance, he could see the Celtic soldiers patrolling the front entrance.

“How did you manage to get past four guards?”

“There are nine, actually,” Nara corrected him. “Three additional circle the grounds and two more travel in the opposite direction that you did not notice.”

Corvin gave Nara an incredulous look.

Who was this girl?

She was no mere princess, that much was certain. A coddled, sheltered normal female would not have made it three paces out of her own bed chamber without being spooked back inside…and Nara managed to get herself all the way to the garrison’s gate before being detected.

The moon had moved in the sky, out from the barrier of the foliage canopy to shine on Nara’s face as she looked up at him from beneath her hood. She smiled.

“The guards are fools and think only of wine and women,” she said. “And the forest guides me.”

Corvin frowned, confused by the cryptic statement but let it pass, as his mind was also focused solely on women—one woman in particular. Slowly, he reached for her cheek, hoping Nara would not flinch at his touch. When she closed her eyes in response, he quickly moved forward and kissed her.

Foolish, yes, but when her mouth opened against his, his primal, male instincts took over and he swept his tongue past her teeth, exploring the sweet taste of her. Nara moaned softly.

His other hand grasped her waist, and he continued the gentle, probing kiss. He was in no hurry, and he did not want to frighten her. God above, but she tasted good, and as she pushed back into him, urging him on, it took every last ounce of discipline and willpower in his body to break the kiss.

“I will see you again soon, Celt,” he said with a half-smile.

“If you are lucky, Roman,” Nara said. She trotted off into the night and Corvin watched as she disappeared into the shadows. She moved toward the back of the structure until she was out of view.

Corvin stood motionless for a few moments, the taste of this enigmatic Celtic princess still on his tongue. His Celtic princess.

Sola Writer events update....

2011-07-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Updates for you writers out there:

The last day to enter the Dixie Kane writers contest is August 1st.

Sola's 4th Annual Writers Retreat is August 5th & 6th.

Mary Buckham's All Day Writers Workshop (From Thought to Plot) is Oct. 29th 2011 $75 Sola / $80 Non-Sola. (I hear great things about Mary's classes)

Erica Spindler will be the speaker for Sola's August meeting.

Also, there is Heather Graham's writers conference in New Orleans for Labor Day weekend. (www.writersforneworleans.com)

If you are looking for a great place on-line for writers classes, try out www.savvyauthors.com - Classes galore there...(there is one class I'm taking soon called Quilting 101 by Suzanne Johnson. Looking forward to this one!)

I will be participating in all of these events. I hope you join us.

Sexsomnia? Parasomnia? Have you heard of this?

2011-07-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last month I was writing a short contemporary erotic romance story and plotting ideas with a good friend. I told my sprint buddy that my character was having issues with sleep-sex. My character is single in the beginning, and she's not happy about having this problem and won't talk to anyone, but it gets worse when she finally meets someone she'd like to be with.

Anyway, my friend said she'd recently read an article about sleep-sex and that in fact this was a real issue. Wow! I had no idea. It's sometimes called Parasomnia as well.

So I went home after our sprint session and researched Sexsomnia for my book. Once I understood what it was I knew I had to share this knowledge with others. Maybe someone you know has this and never knew it was a real problem.

Here is the definition of Sexsomnia in case you were still wondering what the heck. lol

~~~~~~

Sexsomnia is a newly identified and a rare medical condition where the sufferers engage in sexual behavior during their sleep. Sexsomnia is a discrete alternative of sleepwalking also known as sleep-sex that includes behaviors of sexual arousal with autonomic activation (e.g. erection and orgasms). Sexual Behaviors in sleep, sleep-sex, sexual behavior in sleep and sexsomnia all refer to sexual behaviors that occur during sleep.

Sometimes people who suffer of sexsomnia are aware of their problem and don't seek help. The complication is that it often goes unreported because of shame and embarrassment. Furthermore, little is known about this condition's demographics and clinical features. Persons who are romantically involved with those prone to sexsomnia are often aware of their partners' strange behavior.

Definition from: www.sexsomnia.info

~~~~~~

Wow! Can you imagine the complications this could create? Well I could imagine so I wrote the story DIAMONDS and it's being reviewed by a publisher right now. (crossing fingers)

Credit for the definition above goes to www.sexsomnia.info - Where you can learn more about this topic.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Sex class is now over... :-)

Dawn
www.dawnchartier.com

Interview with Rita Finalist, Robin Wells...

2011-06-23T21:55:00.001-07:00

When author Robin Wells got the call from RWA, she had no clue who she was nominated along side of in the Contemporary Romance Single title. I'll give you a hint, her initials are: N.R.

Check out my interview with Robin at Southern Fried Gothic.

Dawn Chartier
Rebuilding New Orleans, one witch at a time...
Buried Magic (WIP)

Checking in....Update...

2011-06-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

It's been a while, and yes of course I'm still writing. lol

So what's been happening with everyone? Good things I hope.

Me? I took a little time away from my witch novel, giving it room to breathe, then I'll pick it back up and work on it with fresh eyes. But while Buried Magic is relaxing, I started a new novella and finished writing it. I'm in the critique mode right now, it's only 20k so it won't take long. Maybe a week.

I'm also reading books again, which I neglected to do while writing Buried Magic. You gotta keep reading - that is a must.

Anyway, just wanted to shout out to my friends that I'm still alive. (a little sick with Sinus problems, but alive.)

Oh, and I'm not going to RWA this year. (boo-hoo) Yes, I'll be at Heather Graham's workshop (www.writersforneworleans.com) and yes, I'll be at Mary Buckham's one-day workshop in NOLA as well. (www.solawriters.org) Looking forward to both of those writers workshops. Oh, and don't forget the Dixie Kane writing contest is going on now. That is on the Sola website too.

Happy Summer y'all!
Dawn
Not An Angel, out now!

Deciding not to blog & hang out on social websites anymore ---- Unless I have something great to share! (or I'm stuck on a plot)

2011-05-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

The world out there has gone socially nuts. They say you need a Facebook page, and now a "fan" Facebook page, you need to tweet, you need to blog, you need a website, you need to blog on other peoples blogs, and need to have people come blog on your blog. Geesh. This is sooooo not me. I just want to get back to MY writing world, and leave all that mess behind. (at least for now until I can get this book done)

And...that is what I'm going to do. Yep. I may post something once in a blue moon, but you won't see much of me playing anymore. If you do, that must mean I'm stuck on a idea or plot. Just yell at my ass to get back to work. (seriously)

My goal in life (other than happiness) is to write wonderful books, and I can't do that if I'm playing on all those social websites.

I'm going to spend more time working on my stories. Feel free to send me an email if you like, but I won't be hanging out on the blogs/loops as much as I used to.

Now I'm off to work on Buried Magic (Witch Book #1) novel. An editor gave me some wonderful advice yesterday (2 pages & 2.5 hr. phone call worth), and now I'm off to work my arse off revising the novel to the best it can be.

See you later,
Dawn
www.dawnchartier.com
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW! (FREE excerpt posted on my website)

Thought to Plot with Mary Buckham ~ Workshop

2011-05-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

This day long workshop sounds great. I signed up all ready. Wanna join me?

The Southern Louisiana Romance Writers invite writers of all genres to join them for a day long workshop with Mary Buckham on October 29th, 2011. Take your THOUGHT TO PLOT with this award-winning author.

When: October 29, 2011

Time: 8am-4pm, lunch included

Place: Hilton Garden Inn, 4535 Williams, Blvd, Kenner, LA

Cost: $75 SOLA members, $80 all others.

Registration Deadline: September 30, 2011

FROM THOUGHT TO PLOT

In the full-day THOUGHT TO PLOT writing craft workshop, national writing instructor, Mary Buckham will show you how to develop a budding idea BEFORE you begin to plot. This is a brainstorming workshop where she will show you where a story and characters break down before you get to the point of plotting. The backbone of a strong story begins with developing these critical points in the early stages of brainstorming so that you aren’t trying to “shore” up your story later.

Most stories fall apart because once a writer has invested a significant amount of work in a story it’s much harder to back up and make changes so they press ahead, shoving support wherever they can. For this reason, come to this workshop with a “NEW” idea you have not fully developed to the point where the idea of making any change is stressful. This workshop is to show you how to take ideas and spin them to be fresh and different, yet with a strong plot infrastructure.

We are a chapter of RWA, but this workshop is suitable for all genres.

Mary Buckham
Mary Buckham is an award-winning romantic-suspense author who, before becoming published in book-length fiction was a freelance article writer, selling hundreds of articles to local, regional, and national publications. In addition, she’s been an editor of a regional magazine. She is also co-author of Break Into Fiction™: 11 Steps to Building a Story That Sells. Mary is a sought-after speaker and writing craft teacher for both online and in live presentations throughout the United States and Canada. For more on Mary go to www.MaryBuckham.com or www.BreakIntoFiction.com

To sign up go to WWW.SOLAWRITERS.COM Find the workshop register button on the right side.

I'll see you in October!

Dawn Chartier

More advice on How to Hook An Agent w/ Sara Megibow

2011-05-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

ON MY MIND by Sara Megibow

Whether you are looking for an agent to sell your book or planning to self publish a book, the ability to pitch your story is vitally important!

I'm in the middle of a whirlwind three-conference tour, so pitching is on my mind. Knowing how to condense your story into an engaging one-sentence pitch is a skill. It's an important skill and it's a difficult one! Here are five times this skill comes into play in publishing and, not to scare you, but each one of these times can be a career-influencing moment.

1) The best query letters include an engaging, unique, powerful pitch sentence. For example, "the kingdom's hero is tricked into drinking poison just days before the queen is kidnapped" is a more powerful pitch than "the kingdom's hero must go on many adventures to save the kidnapped queen." We would ask for sample pages for the first example and pass on reading sample pages for the second example.

2) A one-sentence pitch is how you would communicate to an agent, editor or fellow writer what your story is about. Meeting someone in person? Attending a pitch session at a conference? It's super important to be able to answer the question, "so what do you write?"

3) You may or may not know this, but as an agent I may take that pitch right out of your query and send it to editors when I put a book on submission. (Often I tweak it but the core of the pitch is from the query.) The editor reads your pitch and takes it to the sales meeting to decide if they will make an offer; the sales director takes that pitch to the sales team to decide how they will market the book to book buyers. The book buyers read the pitch and decide how many (if any) copies they want to acquire for their stores. Last but not least, the reader reads your pitch (aka the back cover copy) and decides whether or not to buy and read your book. This is, of course, a bit of an oversimplification, but you get the idea. Publishing is not about putting books on shelves; it's about readers buying books and reading them. Your pitch is the hook that ultimately results in readers.

4) We are seeing tremendous amounts of press right now regarding self-publishing. This explosive publishing model has its pros and cons (as does the traditional publishing model, to be fair). Writers excited to pursue self-publishing will need to know how to pitch! In fact, it will rest even more heavily on the writer to craft a compelling hook. The term "discoverability" is vital to standing out in the crowd, and learning how to communicate convincingly about your work is key.

5) Finally (maybe because I've been yapping about pitching so much on twitter recently), I've been invited to teach an online webinar for Writer's Digest this month. The workshop is called "How to Hook an Agent with your Query Letter" and will be taught on Thursday, May 26 at 1:00 EST (yes, you can still access the workshop even if you are unavailable at that particular time). For those writers interested in attending, I am looking forward to this webinar very much! I will have lots of juicy details to help those interested in pursuing traditional publishing and those interested in self-publishing. See details here:

http://www.writersdigestshop.com/product/how-to-hook-an-agent-with-your-query-letter/?r=sara
Master the pitch as this skill is the key to so many aspects of publishing!

Happy writing,
Sara

(Thanks for allowing me to share, Sara.)

Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
WWW.DAWNCHARTIER.COM

Writing a series....and what you like or don't like when you read them.

2011-04-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Do you enjoy series? I do too. I love them, but sometimes I find that after book 6 or maybe 7 I stop reading them. Am I the only reader out there that feels this way?

I don't blame the author. I think it's just because I'm bored with the character and their world. Okay, maybe it's the author. Don't know. Maybe it's my mood. I might want to read something fresh and new. I do get bored easily.

Usually this happens when it's a series surrounding one main character. (like I said around the 6th or 7th book) However, if the series has different main characters for each book, then I can usually read them all. Usually.

So, now that I'm planning my Vieux Carre' witch series, I want to make sure each book stand on their own, and have threads that are completely different, but they will still keep the same theme, and you will see each sister in all the books. But only the main character will have the camera on them, and their journey.

I can't wait until Saturday. I'll be taking notes on Barbara's, Candace's and Pam's advice. I want to know what to watch out for, like writing yourself into a corner and not being able to change things in the next book or getting stuck with something maybe you would have done differently - like not killing someone off. lol

Happy reading y'all!
Dawn

Sola's April meeting presenters are - Candice Proctor (C S Harris), Agent Pam Ahearn & Barbara Colley

2011-04-06T10:57:00.001-07:00

When our regular speaker had to cancel due to a conflict in her schedule, my co-program partner, Pamela Kopfler went to work right away and found a wonderful speaker or shall I say speaker(s) for Sola's April meeting. It's going to be fab!

Candace Proctor (w/a C.S. Harris), Agent Pam Ahearn, and Barbara Colley all agreed to be on a panel to discuss, WRITING A SERIES. This couldn't be better timing for me because I'm about to dive into my second book in my Vieux Carre' Witch Series. (which I'm already plotting) So thank you, Pamela!

Show up early because space is limited. April 16th @ 10:00am
For more info, click on this link: Solawriters.org

I hope to see you there,
Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!

Today I'm pimping a reader's blog...

2011-04-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

An avid reader of paranormal romance is hosting Author Month in April over at Were Vamps Romance blog. A “few” of her guests for April are - Gena Showalter, Cynthia Eden, Dianna Love, Carly Phillips, Sherriyln Kenyon, Nicole Peeler, etc. and then there is little ole’ me. (I’m up today. Yay!) lol. Other than author interviews, prizes, and reviews – Melissa is just super sweet and refreshing. (I made her sound like a soft drink. lol) Come on by and comment.

http://werevampsromance.blogspot.com/

See y'all there,
Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
Visit: The Wild Rose Press. com

New publisher in town - Entangled Publishing

2011-03-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to spread the word about a new publisher in town. Entangled Publishing.

If you made the rounds submitting or not - don't give up. Check out Entangled.

Good luck!
Dawn

Sola's Guest Speaker ~ Agent, Laura Bradford

2011-03-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

On March 19th SOLA-RWA'S (New Orleans Romance Writers Group) Guest Speaker is agent, Laura Bradford. Ms. Bradford will give the presentation, "How To Catch Flies: On Professionalism & Choosing Your Own Business Reputation." (See her bio below.)

Laura Bradford established the Bradford Literary Agency in 2001. She considers herself an editorial-focused agent and takes a hands-on approach to developing proposals and manuscripts with her authors for the most appropriate markets. The mission of Bradford Literary Agency is to form true partnerships with their clients and build long-term relationships that extend from writing the first draft through the length of the author’s career. Her recent sales include books placed with Berkley, Grand Central, Harlequin/Silhouette, Kensington, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins, Sourcebooks, Hyperion, Flux, Macmillan, Adams Media and Mira Books.

She continues to actively build her client list and is currently seeking work in the following genres: Romance (historical, romantic suspense, paranormal, category, contemporary, erotic), urban fantasy, women’s fiction, mystery, thrillers and young adult as well as some select non-fiction.

She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) and Romance Writers of America and she is an RWA-recognized agent.

This is going to be a great presentation and I hope you can attend.

For more information on time and place, please visit www.solawriters.org

Dawn
www.dawnchartier.com

DFW Writers Conference - Learning and Pitching

2011-02-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

Yep. I'm going to a writers conference in Dallas this weekend. Why? Well, because I've plenty to learn. (Always learn) You are already published - you say.
Sure. But I want to be published again and again.

This weekend I'm pitching my paranormal romance novel, BURIED MAGIC. I need to find an agent that will hear my voice in this story, and someone who will share the same dreams as I do. That dream is to have a long career with the same agent, and write plenty of books and make plenty of people happy...I want to give those readers a great escape.

So wish me luck. If anything, at least I'll come back with some new friends and more knowledge...I'll be back next week to give an update.

Hugs,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
WWW.DAWNCHARTIER.COM

Sola's next guest is VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON

2011-02-10T05:18:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that Sola's next speaker is the great, Vicki Lewis Thompson.

As always - the 3rd Saturday of each month @ the East Jefferson Parish Library. Board meeting starts @ 10am and speaker starts @ 11-12.

Just a note...Last month our speaker Shirley Jump filled the house! The library turned people away (so sorry if that was you), but they have State Fire Marshal rules and gave us a capacity limit after the fact. Our little secret of a great writing group leaked out in the Times Picayune and tons of writers came out of the woodwork. (We loved having everyone and hope they join us again!!!)

So if you want to see Vicki - don't be late.

Thanks,
Dawn

Free read by Suzanne Johnson --- Loved it!

2011-02-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

I know most of my followers live in Louisiana, and for those who do you - must read this little short story from author Suzanne Johnson. The story took on a unique twist I hadn't seen coming...(loved it)...And if you are not from Louisiana you'll get a good glimpse of it through Suzanne's eyes...she couldn't have written it better.

Free read: "Chenoire," an urban fantasy/paranormal novelette by Suzanne Johnson set in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, in the world of Royal Street--a new series beginning April 2012 from Tor Books. http://suzanne- johnson.blogspot .com

(To find the rest of this short story you have to go to Suzanne's website, which I think it listed on her blog.)

Enjoy. I know I did.

Dawn

LEARNING THE CRAFT OF WRITING and my thoughts on Shadowfever...

2011-01-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Today I wanna talk about 1.) Shadowfever by Karen M Moning, and 2.) Writing.

First, if you haven't read Shadowfever, don't worry I won't give any spoilers here. I'd die if someone did that to me. I just want to prepare you that you won't get all the answers you are looking for when you read it. Second, I loved the book, I loved the series. My favorite to date. I wish I could write like her. But this last book left me feeling incomplete. Which was probably what the author intended to do so we will die waiting for her next series to come out - the series she hasn't written yet. Bites nails. Yes. I know she deserves a vacation. I know. I know.
But when you read it - comment here on what you think about it. No bashing her, because I love her books and she's a great lady. But what would you have done differently? Would you leave it as is? Maybe you figured out answers to things I'm confused about.

Now on to writing. After some really good feedback from agents I queried, I decided to revise my opening and tweek lots in the book. My characters will no longer be Psychics. They will be witches. I'm doing some research, but basically they are going to be unique to me and my world. I'm not writing non-fiction, so don't worry bout' it. lol

Now on to the craft of writing. As I write this I'll be perfectly honest. I'm a story teller at heart - not a true writer. I don't have great skills. My grammar lacks. But I am who I am. A story teller. So, now that the cats out of the bag I will tell you this - I've been taking several classes this year, and have a few more lined up. My head is going to explode with all this new knowledge. lol. But this is what I needed. I'm crossing my fingers all this educating myself pays off. (At least that's the plan) I can feel myself getting closer and closer to that contract. The contract that says "I want the entire series!" Oh-Yeah!

So, have you ever felt like you were almost there and did something that completely took your book from good to great? If so, what was that thing? I can say one thing I've done is take a class from Angela James and Shirley Jump. These class will help you polish up things that editors look for. Sure they look for a great story, but they look at the errors too. Errors that they may not have time to fix to get your great story out there. (Like mine.)

I hope everyone is having a great reading or writing day. Happy Friday, y'all...

Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT RIGHT NOW! LOL

P.S. SOLA'S FEBRUARY SPEAKER IS AUTHOR, VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON!

Spreading yourself too thin? Me. Me. Me.

2011-01-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

After cooking dinner tonight I sat at the computer and headed straight to the Savvy Authors website where I'm taking two classes this month. It didn't surprise me that I have assignments to do in both of them tonight. While one assignment from Angela James is fairly simple (thank God!) because we are just beginning; the other editing class called "Editpalooza" is kicking my ass. Seriously. They want you to read your novel and go through everything. Plot, Theme, Character, Structure, and on and on...

I had no clue what I signed up for. I even asked Liz, the group owner if I should do both classes, and she said SURE. Laugh's on me, Liz...I know. I know. I'll be a better writer after it's over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. (grin)

I am learning a lot, so I'm sure it will be all worth it in the end, that is if I make it to the end. I have a huge assignment due in a few days and guess what? This weekend is our monthly local RWA chapter meeting, and I'm the Co-Program Director which means I'm responsible for the speakers. This month our speaker is coming from Ohio and her name is Shirley Jump. After I took a few on-line classes from her I knew I had to book her for our local Sola group. She's awesome and I love her books. So, on Friday she arrives at the airport, Saturday is our class and then she flies out on Sunday.

Mean while another fab. author comes to New Orleans this weekend as well. Karen M. Moning. She is launching her latest Shadowfever book on Monday or Tuesday and she'll be in New Orleans for her Fevercon event. Yep. I'm attending that as well. (Vampire and Ghost tours, along with breakfast at Brennan's Restaurant, book signings and a book chat with readers) Can't wait to get my hands on my reserved signed copy of the latest Fever book. Moning left us on a very nasty cliff hanger. Not nice!

And last but not least I signed up for a brand new Candace Havens class. With all these classes I should be selling books by the dozen. (grin) I also agreed to do a book review, judge the Golden Heart, do a few interviews and blogs for a few authors, etc.

Plus I have to find time to write, edit and make time for the hubby, kids and day job. So do you think I'm spreading myself too thin? Are you doing the same this year? How do you manage to stay sane?

Sola Writers January speaker is Shirley Jump.

2011-01-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

Come and visit Sola's next author speaker on January 15th 2011 @ 10am:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing women’s fiction and romantic comedies (Vegas Pregnancy Surprise, July 2010) to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. As AJ Whitten (www.ajwhitten.com), she also writes horror young adult novels for Houghton Mifflin’s Graphia imprint with her daughter (The Well, September 2009). She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Visit her website at www.shirleyjump.com or read recipes and life adventures at www.shirleyjump.blogspot.com.

For info on location please visit: www.solawriters.org

Thanks and I hope to see you there.
Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com

New Year Goals ~ Do you have one, two or more?

2010-12-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here thinking about my goals for the new year, and my first goal is to continue learning the craft on writing by taking more classes this year. I signed up for a class on editing. Yep, I want to learn how to edit my own work. I want to know how to fix those pesky things that editors look for. Don't need any simple reasons for editors/agents to reject you.

Another goal is to read more. Yes. It's very important to keep up on the current trends and I haven't been reading as much as I'd hoped for 2010. 2011 will be the year I read lots and lots of new books and new authors. Let me know of any new books out there that you love.

And last, my next goal is to work on eating healthier this year. I've been picking at food all year instead of actually eating a good balanced meal. I'll grab whatever when writing or on the road not realizing how much unhealthy food is going into my system. I know when I eat better I feel better and I think I actually write better???? Maybe. LOL.

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND WILL HAVE A AWESOME NEW YEAR!
HUGS,
DAWN

Today I'm over at E.H. on Books and More! Please come join me!

2010-12-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

Over at E.H. on Books and More! Lots of great author interview's there! Come check it out. I'm there today....

Stay warm,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!

Blogging at Savvy Authors today...

2010-11-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Today I'm over at Savvy Authors blogging about something I've blogged about before, but this something is sooooooo important.....

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?732-PERSISTENCE-By-Dawn-Chartier

Have a great weekend!
Dawn

Thanksgiving and Nano goals

2010-11-26T19:50:00.001-08:00

I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. I held up pretty well, better than I thought I would. Most of you know my mom passed away in May this year so these holiday moments are tough. Really tough. But I found if I talk to her (in my mind) then I feel a little better. You know, I say things like how much I miss her, and how I wish she were still here. I'm guessing this is normal, I don't know, but if it makes me feel a little better then that's what I gotta' do.

My daughters are in Georgia this Thanksgiving with their dad and relatives, so it was a little lonely without them too. However, I did spend time with the hubbies family and then later that night with my sister and her kids, my aunt, cousins and my dad. Everyone seemed to be holding up pretty well under the circumstances.

Today has been a lazy day for me. Yes, I did write a lot of words, but not much else. Oh and to update you on my Nano count - I ran into a road block and ended up taking a detour on a short story just to keep my writing going. I'll detour back once I find the right fork in the road.

And to all of you Black Friday shoppers --- you can have it. I've seen the insane crowds crush people trying to get into those Target doors. No thank you! I'll shop in the safety of my home from the internet or early on week day mornings.

One last note - Sola-RWA will not have a meeting in December, (we have a party instead!!!) and our speaker for January is the very talented author, Shirley Jump. If you are learning how to write, you should attend the January meeting.

Have a great Thanksgiving week.
Hugs to you all,
Dawn

NaNoWriMo ~ Can I do it?

2010-11-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

Sure I can. Yesterday was the 18th and I hit the 1/2 way mark to 50,000. My total is actually a little over 26,000. Which means if I write about 2,000 words every day I can still manage my goal.

However, people always ask where do you find the time to write. Well, I don't just find it, I make time for it. Everyone can. Think of things you do all day long that isn't work related, and instead of doing that (watching tv, reading emails, surfing the internet, reading a book), write instead. Well, that's how I do it, plus I get up at 5:30am and write before I go to work. (yes, get up extra early) No, I'm not a morning person, (just ask the family)but I do what it takes to get it done.

If I set my mind on a goal, I do everything in my power to achieve it. I'm stubborn that way. Like right now, I'm using mind control to tell those editors to love my story submission and send me a contract. (haha) Just kidding. Wouldn't that be cool if we could do that? My current novel I'm writing now, the heroine, RAINE, she can do just that. Boy does it get her into trouble.

Listening to: Nothing but the pups snoring. (no that is not a song title)

Have a great weekend and if you don't hear from me on the blog it's because I'm buried in trying to meet my goal!

Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!

Investigating and Prosecuting Corrupt Public Officials

2010-11-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

If you are in the New Orleans area on 11/20/10 - you don't want to miss this writers meeting!!!

SOLA-RWA Presents, "Investigating and Prosecuting Corrupt Public Officials" on Saturday November 20th @ 10am - East Jefferson Parish Library in Metairie, LA.

I can't give out too much info on this topic, but let's just say we are going to have an attorney present our November meeting who has investigated and prosecuted some of the top political cases in Louisiana. This guy can't speak about current cases, but he can talk about cases that are closed. I'm so excited I can't wait!

p.s. I wish I would've booked him sooner because I just finished writing a novel (BURIED BONES) that had a couple of corrupt public officials. (this novel is with a few NY publishers right now, and I hope the editors love the characters and story as much as I had fun writing them)

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you at SOLA.

Luncheon with Sherrilyn Kenyon and crew! And Nano!

2010-11-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went to Baton Rouge with a good friend, Debbie Dolme. We attended the Heartla Luncheon. This is the Baton Rouge RWA Group. What a nice bunch of ladies. I got to chat with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Deborah LeBlanc, Diana Rowland, Farrah Rochon, Barbara Colley, and several other wonderful authors. I was surprised to see some ladies that I'd met in RWA Nationals. (waving to the Leger ladies)

The lunch was really good, especially the dark chocolate cake. Yum.

The only minor bump we had was getting to the hotel - the LSU game was only minutes away and traffic was horrible. Matter of fact, we were in the hotel with the Auburn coaches, staff and players.

They put a curtain around our conference room so we wouldn't disturb the players, guess it didn't work. (grin)

Anyway, let's talk about NaNo. I'm a little behind with my goals, but I plan to do a really hard push tomorrow. I'm meeting up with a writing buddy and we will do some writing sprints at Starbucks. With all the caffeine (and chocolate) in my system, my fingers should fly across the keyboard with no problems...

If you are doing Nano - how are you coming along?

ANIMAL SHELTER IN NEED OF HELP!

2010-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

My heart broke when I saw this.

I don't normally blog about sad things or request help, but I have to for the lives of these animals. I feel really strong about this and in my latest unpublished novel "BURIED BONES" that I'm currently shopping, my story deals with over-crowding animal shelters such as this one.

Please see the attached link.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Group-that-saves-neglected-dogs-needs-help-105739803.html

(If the link doesn't work - google it. This is in Louisiana. I also posted this on my facebook, you can connect by going to my website www.dawnchartier.com and click on the FACEBOOK link at the bottom)

If you can help these poor little guys, then do what ever you can.

Thanks,
Dawn

A Louisiana Bayou Ghost Story & Starbucks!

2010-10-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

I blogged about a haunted bayou (now a National Preserve Park) near my Louisiana home.

Here's the link: http://www.southern-fried-gothic.com

P.S. Did you know that Starbucks now has FREE wi-fi? I didn't know that until today.
Good move, Starbucks!

Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
www.dawnchartier.com

Like Ghost Stories??? Books set in the South???

2010-10-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

I love ghost stories! The more real they seem the better.

Do you enjoy books set in the south? Or maybe just the authors that live in the south? (grin) Well come on over to the Southern Fried Gothic blog where a few southern authors post stories, reviews, interviews or whatever they are up to.

www.southern-fried-gothic.com

See you there!
Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!

Author Jade Lee and update on Query Process

2010-10-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Author Jade Lee will be at our RWA Sola writers meeting this Saturday @ 10am. (Metairie, LA) Please join us for a great presentation. I've taken a class by Jade before at Heartla's conference and she is amazing...

Lil' update ~
Well, I've been playing around with my "Pitch blurb" for what seems like forever. Who would have thought a little old' paragraph description would be so darn hard???? And the strange thing about this is the first two books I ever wrote (which were pretty good stories, but not so good writing) I put together a truly awesome pitch for those stories. They were easy to do for some reason. I sent it out to two people and got requests from both. They loved my pitch, but was kind enough to say I wasn't there yet and said I could resubmit something again later. Sweet. But now that I'm feeling it, feeling this story like I have never felt before, I mean really emotional, NOW I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to the bare bones. Why is that? And now an agent who requested a partial wants a synopsis with it. What???? Synopsis? Really? Geesh, you'd think she'd asked me for my first or second born.

Okay, I can do this. I will get that syn-poop-sis done! And a better query letter too. I will - I will - I will... Readers don't realize the stuff authors have to go through, and authors don't realize the stuff agents and editors have to go through. Maybe I should have kept this to myself...(nah...)

p.s. I just want to thank who ever it was that gave me such a sweet review on Amazon. It makes it all worth while. Seriously! Big hugs to you!

Have a great day!
Dawn Chartier (who is now alligator free!)
www.dawnchartier.com

Night Owl Reviews?

2010-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Hunt or is it Haunt? If you are on the hunt for NIGHT OWL REVIEWS, you are in the right place...(look around...but...be very careful...unknown's are lurking in every corner!)

Author Jade Lee ~ At the SOLA October Meeting

2010-10-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

This month you can't miss our October speaker, Jade Lee. She's an awesome author and a great teacher. As usual it's the 3rd Saturday @ 10am - East Jefferson Parish Library off of Clearview and W. Napoleon.

www.solawriters.org

Started The Query Process

2010-09-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes authors are just so excited when they get the call from an agent that they just agree to the terms and don't truly understand what the relationship is going to be like. Writers, do your research before accepting. Take a little while and ask the agents authors how the like their agent.

Is an author crazy to turn down an agent? Nope. Not at all.

What if you don't feel like it's a good fit?
What if you didn't see she/he representing books like yours, yet they want to rep you?
What if they are not hands-on and that's what you wanted?
What if they are not easy to talk to?

So many things to think about and ask when interviewing agents. And yes, you must interview, just as they interview you. The arrangement is like a marriage and you must have the same goals in mind. At least that's how I feel.

So don't settle, find the perfect "fitting" agent. The only reason I'm talking about this is I've started the query process this week. So wish me luck. I didn't flood the market with queries, but I did send out a few.

Good luck to all you writers submitting,
Dawn Chartier

Sola Writers Meeting - 9-18-10

2010-09-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

For information about the Sola's September writers meeting on Saturday please visit www.solawriters.org ---- Hope to see you there....

Thanks,
Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
WWW.DAWNCHARTIER.COM

Missing In Action (not really)

2010-09-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

So where have I been? Well the last few weeks I've been at my other part time job. Although, I was there full time instead. Our office manager had surgery and I needed to fill in. So, therefore I was missing in action.

Then I went to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Alabama for vacation. A much needed vacation. We normally do vacation during the summer, but because of my mom's injury and then passing away we put the vacation on hold. I almost put it on hold again because I wanted to attend Heather Graham's wonderful conference in New Orleans, but I knew the family needed a break. So we went to the beautiful Alabama beach. The water temperature was perfect. The beaches beautiful. The weather the best I've seen in a long time. With the exception of a few oil balls, and a few stains on our bathing suits it was worth it.

The condo we stayed at had this fun lazy river, a water slide for the kids and some adults. There were 40 of us sitting in our beach chairs which the umbrella guy made into this huge "U" shape gathering.

Now I'm back and I missed writing. I revised another chapter today and hope to knock out several more this week. With a new critique partner, things are looking up. She tells me like it is, and I'm so thankful for that.

Now that I'm refreshed from vacation the writing is flowing much better. And I'm working on a piece for the Southern Fried Gothic blog (once it's up and rolling), but I'm having trouble getting ghost facts from the locals, seems the new generation only remembers bits and pieces. Need to find some older folks and see what they remember. I can't wait to put this piece out. It's pretty scary. Just in time for Halloween.

Currently reading: Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson (another story set in the New Orleans area).

Listening to: Dogs barking and workers in the yard. (no that is not a song title)

Happy reading,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL - OUT NOW!
WWW.DAWNCHARTIER.COM

Remembering Katrina ~ Part II

2010-08-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

So where was I? Let's see, oh yeah, I hadn't gone home yet, but the hubby had. Once he cleaned up a little around the house, scheduled his workers to come back, cleaned out the yucky refrigerators, then he came back to get me from Morgan City. Before going home we bought a generator, lots of groceries, waited in line for about an hour or two to fill up gas cans we borrowed from my aunts camp and then headed home.

On the drive back which is about an hour and thirty minutes, I started seeing signs of destruction. Billboards laying on the roads. Trees down. Road blocks from the military. We had a hospital pass so they let us in. Most people were turned around after they waited in traffic for hours to get back home.

Once we made it past the check point things began to hit me. The only life I saw was helicopters flying above, military in hummer's, large military trucks with tent covering the backs of the trucks. And a few utility trucks. As we moved closer to our home I saw houses missing parts of roofs, chimineys, sheds & fences blown down, trees on top of cars, houses, and all over the road. I knew the military or utility company had already cut a path down our main highway so we were able to get home. I knew I was quiet on the ride back. My hubby grabbed my hand as I took in the ghost town. Very eerie. Most of the westbank didn't get near the damage New Orleans and Plaquemines Parish had. They had major flooding, like over 10'-20'in some areas...

We pulled on our street and I couldn't believe the mess, trees down, we couldn't drive to our house, we couldn't go down our street. Our house is first on the street, so we couldn't see our neighbors homes. However, the hubby had already checked and for the most part, their houses were okay other than one tree landing on our neighbors roof, but it was actually not too bad.

Once I saw everything was okay with the house, other than a small crack in my daughters bedroom wall, the garage doors looked like they were sucked in, the house couldn't have been better. The yard would take a long time to clean, but we were great! Thank you God!

After the relief washed through me, we checked on family and friends houses. Both our parents houses had severe damage. Roof and flood damage. My brothers house and my brother-n-law's house had major damage as well. My brother never came back to Louisiana.

I went back to Morgan City, my parents picked up my girls for me and we all stayed in Morgan City. (Except my hubby stayed home to work) I enrolled the kids in school, not knowing how long we would be there, because our house had no electricity other than a generator. And no water. I drove back and forth when the hubby needed food and gas. That didn't last long because I had enough real quick and wanted to be home with him. The girls wanted to be home too, school or no school we went home. I found a closer grocery store and gas station, and we lived without things I never thought were possible. It was like camping, but under our own roof.

Our office (we have a construction company) was flooded. We worked in filth for months while we fixed everyone else's homes, businesses, hospitals, buildings, then after all that was done we began work on our office.

I skimmed so much of my Katrina moments, but there is too much to tell.

But, there were some moments that stick out in my brain that I won't forget: There is a church across the street from our home and a statue of Mary sits in a little praying area on the church's grounds in the woods. Mary was covered by trees as though the trees fell on top each other to protect her. Not one tree touched her. It was the oddest thing in the world. Then months after the storm I remember Dominoes Pizza opening. OMG! They were the only fast food around. It was the best damn pizza in my life and we waited for 2-3 hours to get it. It cost I think about $30, but we didn't care. It was Pizza! I remember driving to a few hospitals with my husband for work, and one hospital had so much mold in it I couldn't believe how fast it had spread. It was like a jungle of mold up the walls, on furniture, it was like everyone up and left in the middle of lunch, and a jungle of mildew took over.

While the New Orleans and the gulf coast will never be the same, some things are better and some things are worse. Life goes on, and you have to just lift up your head and think there are people out there who have it a lot worse.

I'll tell you a story of hurricane Gustav another time.

Now keep your fingers crossed no more storms hit the gulf coast for a long time. Especially with the oil out there right now. What a mess that would be.

I attached a link of Then and Now photo's from WWL TV.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/slideshows/Plaquemines-Parish-Then-and-now-101508989.html

Thanks for reading,
Dawn

Remembering moments from Hurricane Katrina - Part I

2010-08-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

I was torn about posting anything related to hurricane Katrina, it's so depressing, yet I feel in ways that it helps to talk about it. (Excuse the typo's, I'm writing this on the go.)

I have to say up front that my life wasn't destroyed like many people's were, so I can't complain. But the memories are rough at times, especially around the anniversary. It's almost 5 years already. 2005 was a year of huge moments in my life.

January we moved into our brand new home. March got married. August Hurricane Katrina. What a year!

I'll try and skim as best I can, but I'll start from the beginning and post on this topic a few days this week to spread it out.

Hubby and I were watching the news/weather and a hurricane had re-organized after going through Florida and was heading our way. I felt something bad in my gut. It was going to be bad. I couldn't believe the New Orleans Mayor hadn't insisted on people getting the hell out. Other town Mayor's told people leave and leave now! I was stunned at Mayor Nagin! I think too many close calls had the city thinking nothing will happen as usual.

Unfortunately, my husband was one of those people. However, I knew in my gut this was it. My hubby didn't want to leave, but I insisted we had to for his parents. We had to get them to safety just in case it did hit us. I packed for about a week, when most people packed 2-3 days max. At the last minute we ended up heading to Texas. We sat in traffic for I can't remember how long. (maybe 12 hours?) The traffic was a nightmare, but at least we were out of there. We found a sleezy hotel that took pets (we had a golden at the time) and I can't remember if we slept at all or not. All I can remember is staying glued to the tv. At first it appeared the hurricane jogged to the east and missed New Orleans, but then a day or so later the levees broke, and the water poured in trapping thousands in their homes. Killing over a thousand people.

One of the local hospitals called my husband, asking him to come back to repair some damage to a much needed space in the hospital. The hospitals in New Orleans were under water and destroyed. This hospital that called my husband was not, but had damage and if it could be repaired they needed the "bed" space for the overflowing patients. We left the hotel and headed closer to New Orleans, but yet still far enough away that we had grocery stories open and running electricity. We stayed at my aunt's camp for 1 night in Morgan City, but my husband still had to get back asap. He had his hospital pass, but I kept hearing horror stories about power line people and helicopters being shot at - it was a war zone and I didn't want my husband to be in the middle of it. - He was upset he hadn't brought his boat because he wanted to help rescue people. A neighbor of my aunts gave him a gun to come home and he did. Alone. He wouldn't allow me to go back with him. One for my safety and two because he didn't know if we had a home left or not. Cell phone service was hit or miss, and I remember talking to him as he came through town. He said I wouldn't believe it. He said it was like a third world country. Destruction everywhere.

He couldn't drive down our street because of huge oak trees covering the road. When I say huge, I mean almost as tall as me while they are laying on the road. He had to walk the rest of the way to the house. We live on three acres of wooded land so you can imagine what we thought we would come home to. As he neared the house he told me he would call me back. He didn't want to be on the phone with me as he examined the damage. Tons of trees and debris laid on the ground surrounding the house, but it appeared no major damage. He called me, and the relief in his voice I can't describe. He said it looked like a giant weed wacker cut off the tops of all the trees. Broke them clean off without doing any damage to our home. (A tornado had to have come through). The brand new house still stood. The damage was minor. Amen!

My husband met with facilities from the hospital and immediately began scheduling the sub-contractors to get to work, at least the ones he could find. I wanted to get home. I had to see everything for myself, but I was stuck at the camp without a car until he came back for me. I knew there was something he wasn't telling me.

To be continued..........

(see attached video from WWL TV news for some local updates)

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Ahead-of-Katrina-Anniversary-Old-Images-May-Be-Causing-New-Problems-101436719.html

Author Jess Haines talks about Editing a Novel Prior to Submission

2010-08-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hello there! Jess Haines here. I’m the author of the new urban fantasy HUNTED BY THE OTHERS (link: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=16761), and its upcoming sequel TAKEN BY THE OTHERS (link: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=18148) (to be released January 4, 2011 by Kensington). I’d like to take a moment to talk to you about the editing process.

First, I’m going to start with telling you about what my own writing process is like–BEFORE passing my work on to my agent or editor. (If you’re curious what happens once your work gets passed on, in my case, my agent lends me a hand by looking the manuscript over and offering her input on things I can improve. After that’s done, I pass my work on to my editor, who gives me his input on any changes to the storyline that are needed, or scenes that need bulking up or more explanation. This is followed by a round of edits from the copy editor, who tears into it with a red pen marking up spelling and grammar errors. Sound like a lot? It is.)

Remember: even if you have an agent, editor, and a copy editor who are going to help tighten up your novel, that’s no excuse not to do the best job you can on your own. To help you with that, I’m going to give you some tips on what to look for.

Note that the self-editing process is different for everyone, and you shouldn’t take my guidelines as gospel. This is wholly and only for your info.

My writing process generally goes something like this:

1) Write the whole story. No… no. NO! DO NOT go back to edit! BAD AUTHOR! BAD!

2) Okay. First draft is done. Reread.

3) AUGH, MY EYES!

4) Fix all the #)($ spelling, grammar, continuity errors I can find.

5) Read it again.

6) How the heck did I miss that?!

7) Fixfixfix.

8) Repeat 5-7 about 10 more times.

9) Beta #1 time! (Betas are people who act as a second set of eyes, looking over your work specifically in search of grammar, spelling, and/or continuity errors. I have three. Two for general, “Does this work? Did I miss anything glaringly obvious?” This is their step. Beta #3 is my grammar-nazi. No dangling modifiers for you!)

10) AUGH, HOW DID I MISS THOSE GLARING ERRORS MY BETAS SPOTTED?! Fixfixfix.

11) Beta #3′s turn!

12) AUGH, HOW DID THREE PEOPLE MISS THOSE GLARING ERRORS?! Fixfixfix.

13) Usually, at this point, I’m done and ready to pass the buck on to my agent and/or editor.

Now, for what this post is really about! Here are some examples of what I am looking for and what I am fixing AFTER the first draft is written:

– Spelling errors. You need to read your stuff start to finish so you have it all in context, or this won’t work. Microsoft Word (which is the program I use) is notorious for missing things or deciding that you meant Word X when you really meant Word Y and sneakily ninjas Word Y in there when you’re not looking.

– A sub-heading to the above is the search for homophones and other such nonsense (e.g., “night” vs. “knight”; “to” vs. “too” vs. “two”; “your” vs. “you’re” — get the picture?).

– Grammar errors. These can be devious. Personally, I am TERRIBLE at catching some of this stuff on my own, but knowing my weak points helps me spot them. An example? I have a tendency to use “that” instead of “who”—e.g., “the person that spoke” instead of “the person who spoke”—so I know to be on the look-out for this.

– Replacing/rephrasing redundant words/phrases/sentences.

– Removing unnecessary words (overuse of “just,” “almost,” “a little,” “really,” etc).

– Continuity errors. (“Okay. In this paragraph, Dude A shapeshifts and his pants get torn apart.” Continue reading. Three paragraphs later: “Where’d those pants come from?!” Yes, this really happened. Yes, it was removed before the final version made it into the hands of the reading public.)

– Failure to properly express what was going through my head at the time I wrote the sentence(s). Ever do that? You’ve got a fabulous image in your head of how a scene is playing out, and you furiously type it all out–only to reread it later and realize you left out 3/4ths of what should have made it on paper?

– Occasional rewrites of entire scenes. For example, I deleted 5,000 words from novel #3 in the H&W Series because I didn’t like how a scene was coming along. Rewrote it in its entirety. It’s much better now—and I don’t regret losing those words.

– Sometimes I fail to get an idea across, and someone will point it out–for example, in my first book, one of the things my editor wanted me to fix was a “glossing over” of the relationship between Shiarra and her ex-boyfriend. By adding a few paragraphs here and there to beef up the back story, it helped explain some of her actions and thoughts enormously.

What about you? What do you look for when you’re editing your own work?

Author Laura Hogg - New Releases

2010-08-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

A little information about the talented author, Laura Hogg's latest releases:

Deadly Karma: Three Speculative Tales (three short paranormal stories, electronic format)

Available with Midnight Showcase:
http://www.midnightshowcase.com/midnight/Karma.htm

Karma: Karma’s Time Machine: A mean college girl learns a lesson she’ll never forget when she stumbles upon another dimension.

The Deadly 50/50: She is neither good enough for heaven, nor bad enough for hell. Now it’s time to take a stand. Given a task that sends her to the gates of hell, success seems possible; then she sees who the gatekeeper is.

Karma: The Blue Dress: One woman must make a sacrifice to insure the future. Another must give up something to save the past. What happens when the 21st century meets the 19th for a dual tale across time?

And...
Full-length historical romance, available with Moongypsy Press. (electronic, and soon to be available in print)
http://www.moongypsypress.com/hogg.php

DESCENT INTO DARKNESS

Duncan Amberley has come back from war, fighting Napoleon's men on a ship. Clarissa Hale is a lovely shopkeeper with a great sense of humor. A heroic heart rests inside this insecure, intelligent beauty, and she will be called to prove it. Clarissa and her love are pitted against each other for the sake of their families and some terrible accusations. She will be in constant peril as she gathers evidence to convict Duncan's dangerous brother of a harrowing crime. Duncan's heart breaks when he discovers something about Clarissa's sister. Can their love survive the results of their investigations? They devise a dangerous plan to get to the truth, which brings them into the heart of Napoleon's camp in 1812 Russia as spies. Risking everything, they must get to the truth.

Laura lives in Colorado and has various stories out with different publishers. They range from short stories to full-length novels. Most are romance. Laura likes to write historical, some sci-fi, and paranormal, especially time travel fiction.
Her links:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php
http://twitter.com/lovebooksmusic
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003F977GI
http://traveltheages.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/l_hogg

RWA Orlando Pictures and Memories

2010-08-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's me in a red top hat! (It's a costume, so don't get all worried)

As I promised in my last post - I have a few pictures to share plus a few memories as well...

Wednesday morning Debbie Dalme' and I hop on a jet plane (not really) and fly to Orlando. We arrive at the Swan, which by the way was a very nice hotel. We unpacked, registered and eat not such a good sandwitch at a buffet in the Dolphin. At this point we didn't care, we'd eat anything. While we were in line waiting, we chatted with this lady who looked really familiar. I even told her she looked familiar. She said she was Susan Elizabeth Philips. Yes, really...

That night was the "Readers for Life" Literacy signing. OMG! About ninety percent of the authors that I read were there. It was amazing. Debbie and I ran around the rows of authors signing and tried to get signatures for a chance to win a Nook or a Kindle (can't remember), we didn't win, but we did get to chat and buy a few books.

I'm trying to remember what we did that night, but I can't remember for the life of me. Anyway, the next morning we had breakfast with author Shirley Jump, (see picture above) Farrah Rochon, and other great writers and friends. The restaurant made this cute lil' Mickey Mouse waffles that Farrah ate. She took some pictures of them - I'll have to see if I can get my hands on them.

Then later that day at noon was the keynote speaker with the one and only NORA ROBERTS. I wasn't expecting such a wonderful inspiring talk, but she let us know she worked hard to become who she is today and working so hard is what makes it all the sweeter.

Then was the PRO RETREAT which was wonderful. Donald Maass was the keynote speaker and I could listen to him like forever. He shared such wisdom. After the PRO RETREAT I met the wonderful Sara Megibow with the Nelson Agency. She is sweeter in person. Truly a down to earth kinda gal. Later that night a few friends and I had dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

Friday was a day full of classes. I took as many classes and hit as many spotlights as I could. I wanted to know the inside scoop of what the editors wanted and the trends they saw happening. Just so you know, paranormal is still really hot right now. They don't see a change coming anytime soon. At the Pocket spotlight they want new authors and new types of paranormal. They want a edgy YA paranormal too. They also opened up a online community called Pocketafterdark.com which I haven't been to yet. I plan to soon.

Friday night was the Future Fantasy and Paranormal -FFandP Party and Awards party. A lot of people enjoyed dressing up for this event. Including me.

Saturday was a day full of classes, then there was the Gold Heart and Rita Award Reception and then that was all she wrote. I was exhausted. Oh one more thing, Sabrina Jeffries was the emcee (sp?) and she was a hoot...

I'm hoping I can make RWA 2011 in New York! Cross your toes...

Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
http://www.dawnchartier.com/

RWA party scoop from Barbara Vey (Publishers Weekly) blog

2010-08-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

Run over to Barbara Vey's Beyond Her Book blog....See some great RWA party insiders scoop...(plus my buddies and I are posing for a picture for her)...My eyes look closed, but yep thats me...worn out, yet still so excited to be there...

I'll post my own blog when the fog clears from my head...

http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/beyondherbook/

RWA Nationals, here I come...

2010-07-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not leaving yet, but I'll be there soon enough. I can't wait to learn tons, meet new people and see old friends. I'm excited about The Gathering party too. I get to meet all the FF&P groupies...should be fun.

Anyway, BURIED BONES, my romantic suspense with paranormal elements is hoping to find a home with an agent and then with a wonderful publisher. Now to get my pitch down to a science. I've only changed it twenty times. Must leave it alone. haha...

I'll have a couple USB drives (they have cute little skeleton heads on it) with a sample of the first 30 pages just in case. Must go prepared. One never knows when the opportunity will arrive.

If you see a brownish-blonde, curly hair woman - that might be me. Come say hello.

Have a great time if you are going. If not keep reading or working on your book.

Dawn
Nationals bound, baby!
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
www.dawnchartier.com

First 5 Pages Contest - Sola RWA

2010-07-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to promote this writers contest, but I've been a little busy.

Anyway my local RWA (Sola) chapter is holding a writers contest and it's a wonderful opportunity to get feedback on your first 5 pages. The entry fee is cheap $15.00 (I believe) and the knowledge you learn is very valuable. Go to the website to find more information. Several unpublished authors are now published because of the great feedback from authors.

http://www.solawriters.org

Good luck to those who enter.
Dawn

Barbara Vey's question got me thinking...(scary, I know)

2010-07-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Barbara Vey posted a question on Publisher's Weekly "Beyond The Book" blog recently, asking when do you put the book down if you are not into it?

As a reader I replied that I put the book down after the first chapter. But then I started second guessing my answer. Sometimes I put the book down much sooner. Maybe 10 pages into the story and yet sometimes it gets a second chance when I'm in a different mood. Often I'm glad I gave the book a second look, but sometimes I can't get into it no matter what.

So how did this get me thinking you ask. Well it's because my mood changes all the time. Some days I want light and funny, like Janet Evanovich or Karen Wells. Other days I want my heroes torchered like in J.R. Ward's or Sherrilyn Kenyon's books. Some times I just want to read a cool YA such as P.C. Cast. And sometimes I want to read about a kick-ass heroine such as Karen M Moning's Fever series or even Charlaine Harris's Sookie series or maybe something serious like Jodi Picoult.

I'm trying to find a common thread in these book, and why sometimes I like the mystery, humor over a paranormal romance, and other times I want the dark paranormal romance over the light mystery. I'm guessing it's the same reason why one day we want to watch a scary movie or a comedy or a action packed thriller. It all depends on our moods.

So my thoughts is this. Do you think editors and agents have moods as well when reading submissions? One day they love your story and voice and then the next day they aren't in the mood for it? I know you are wondering where are these random thoughts are coming from. Heck, I don't know. Just some weird crap that goes through my mind is all.

Now on a totally different subject. If you are a TrueBlood fan, what do you think of Alcide Herveaux? OMG! I know. He is the hottest Mississippi redneck I've ever laid eyes on. (now don't get offended if you're from Mississippi and I called Herveaux a redneck, he's not really a redneck, he's a sexy-ass werewolf. Plus my dad's from Sugalock Miss. so I get the privledge of using the redneck term, and I once lived in Jackson for a total of 3 days. (grin).

That was all. I'm still counting down until I leave for RWA Nationals, and I'm super excited to meet some awesome agents, editors and new and old friends....(claps hands excited) One week from tomorrow!!! Yay.....

Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
www.thewildrosepress.com
www.dawnchartier.com

Gearing Up for Nationals

2010-07-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

RWA NATIONAL COUNT DOWN (15 DAYS)

Where has the time gone? Only two weeks and 1 day before RWA Nationals and I'm getting more and more excited. This will be my second time going, the first time was in Dallas. It was so overwhelming, but I had the time of my life. I made some wonderful friends and I know I'll meet many more.

Nationals is a great time to learn from the best editors, agents and authors. And if you have pitch appointments make sure you can sum up your story in one line, two lines and three lines. It helps if you can do this, at least thats the buzz. Make sure you point out why your romantic suspense (insert your genre here) stands out from the rest of the pack, and remember the editors and agents are people just like you - looking for a great book to entertain them.

Remember to talk to them - not "at" them. Tons of people will be pitching, you want to be the person who they remember. It's okay to be nervous, but don't forget to ask them questions too. Don't you want to know what their goals are too?

If you are shy this is the time to speak up. Don't waste all that money you spent (and maybe the best manuscript pitch ever) sitting in your room, wishing you were out there with everyone else. Get out there! If you don't know anyone, come seek me out. I'm shy too, but this is your career...you have to get over it.

Good luck to those pitching! Don't forget to have fun! Soak up all the workshops you can.

And even though I missed the sign up slot for pitches, I'll be looking for that special agent that fits me & my goals and crossing my fingers that I fit theirs too.

Hugs,
Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
http://www.dawnchartier.com/

SOLA'S July meeting presenter is Dr. Jeffrey Long - Near-Death experiences

2010-07-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

At Sola's July writers meeting Dr. Jeffrey Long will discuss his research in the area of "near-death" experiences. (See bio below)

Jeffrey Long, MD is a physician practicing the specialty of radiation oncology, which is the use of radiation to treat cancer, at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC. Dr. Long completed medical school and did his radiation oncology training at the University of Iowa. He moved here from Gallup, New Mexico where he practiced radiation oncology and also worked extensively, both professionally and in public service, with the Navajo Nation. Dr. Long lives in Houma and practices there full-time.

In addition to Dr. Long’s professional interests, he has an interesting hobby. Over 10 years ago he began studying near-death experiences. He recently published his research findings in the book “Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences”, which became a New York Times bestseller.

Dr. Long has discussed near-death experiences extensively with the media in the past, including appearances on ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, NBC Morning Show, The O’Reilly Factor, Discovery Health, and The Learning Channel. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Time.com. In Houma, Dr. Long is a member of the Rotary and is participating this year in Leadership Terrebonne. He has given a number of community talks on both cancer and his research that led to his book.

The findings are presented in his groundbreaking book.

SOLA’s July meeting begins at 10am on July 17th, 2010 at the East bank branch of the Jefferson Parish Library at 4747 Napoleon Avenue in Metairie, LA.

Hope to see y'all there.
Dawn Chartier

Fourth of July Scare...

2010-07-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

I know I'm supposed to post about writing stuff, but I had to share my excitement over the holiday weekend.

My hubby and I decided to take a last minute trip and we ended up flying to Sanibel Island, Florida. The hubby wanted to rent a car, but I said we probably wouldn’t need one.

I was wrong.

We ended up renting bikes. We rode the bikes a lot. Good for our health right? We rode to the movie theatre (8pm) and then to dinner which was a few miles away, and we had to ride through a beautiful scenic Wildlife Nature Park on this cute little trail. It was really nice. (above is a picture of it during the daylight)

When we got to the movies, we were 10 minutes late, we saw Eclipse because it was either that or Toy Story 3, and I already saw TS3. (loved it too!) After Eclipse we rode our bikes (in the rain) another block further to eat at a place called ??? (darn the name escapes me).

After dinner we got back on the bikes, and headed back. As we entered the nature Wildlife Park (four foot wide) trail it was pitch black and I couldn’t see sh*% - It hit me. OMG! Wild Animals live in Wildlife Parks!!! I told my husband I would rather take my chances with the cars on the highway then ride in the woods with alligators, snakes, wild bob cats, and lord only knows what else. He said, no we are safer on the trails. The old bikes we rode didn’t have reflectors and when I say it was dark, I mean I couldn’t see squat, only the back tire of my husband’s bike. Argh!

While we peddled quickly, blindly through the long dark trail with my heart beating out of my chest, my body shaking so bad that I thought I would fall off the bike, and I almost fainted from fright, I glanced up after hearing noises in the woods only a foot from me. I couldn’t see anything, panicking I knew a damn wild cat would jump on my back. My heart leapt into turbo speed, crawling up my throat, and my pulse beat frantically through out my entire body. To the left I heard another noise and I yelled “go faster - go faster” He couldn’t see either so it was hard to tell which way the trail curved. He kept saying he wasn’t scared. Well, I was. I knew we would run on top of an alligator. Then the crickets sang louder and louder and louder, and I kept hearing the bushes move. I glanced to my left and saw large perfectly round orange eyes staring at me at about the height of a child. I truly thought I would pass out. I found a clearing and jumped on the highway. Yes, a few cars were coming but at this point I’d rather die from a car. My husband said to get back on the trail once we found a clear spot. I was scared to death, but I eventually got back on the dark trail.

Needless to say we made it out of there alive, but I’ll never ever forget the how frightened I was and how the sounds of crickets gave me the creeps. And now this creates a big problem. I live on 3 acres of land with plenty of crickets. Every time I hear them, I think of that terrible horrible bike ride through the jungle, I mean Wildlife park. (grin)

Care to share something that scared you so bad you thought you would pee on yourself?

p.s. We ate at The Thistle Lodge at the resort, and it was the best Lobster Bisque I've ever eaten. Just thought you should know. (grin)

Dawn

WIN FREE EBOOK! INTERVIEWING LIKE CRAZY! I'M HALF HERE AND HALF THERE!

2010-06-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

How can I be at two places at once for two days???

Ha. I'm not sure either...(grin) But I'm at a couple places today and then a couple tomorrow....I will give away one ebook (NOT AN ANGEL) at two of the blogs listed below, but I won't say which ones. (grin) You'll have to post a comment to be eligable to win. Sneaky huh...Kinda like gambling but with no money involved. Good luck.

(((TODAY & TOMORROW, maybe Friday too?))) - Over at Naughty Novelists with a HOT excerpt from NOT AN ANGEL. http://wwww.cherieduesues2.com/naughty-novelists.html

(((Today))) Author E.J. Stevens blog - "From The Shadows" http://www.fromtheshadows.info/2010/06/guest-author-interview-dawn-chartier.html

(((Tomorrow/Thursday))), Author Rachel Brimble's blog.http://www.rachelbrimble.blogspot.com

Would love to have you stop by!!!

Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
www.dawnchartier.com

Deep POV...

2010-06-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

I found a wonderful article on deep pov over at http://www.kfwwriters.blogspot.com
The author Karin Harlow has some great insight that every author should think about when writing their characters. If you ask her a related industry question you might win her new release.

Sorry guys, I hope I win it...she sounds like a awesome author!

Dawn

Author Karen Rose visited Sola ~ See what she had to say!

2010-06-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Romantic Suspense author Karen Rose spoke at our local RWA chapter this past Saturday and then she did a special "after class" presentation as well. What a great lady to go all the way out like that and give us writers extra time to learn from her experiences.

Anyway, I took some notes and wanted to share a few things I learned. There was so much she went over, but these few things are still fresh in my mind.

One thing that stuck in my mind is to make the villian as real as the hero/heroine. Don't make them cardboard like. You need to know the villians back story. What makes him tick? Chilling villians are great. Give them goals, motivation and conflict just like you do your H/H. Greed and Revenge are good motivators. But they also need to have a vulnerable side to them as well.

Karen also talked about Secondary characters and how they add so much more to a book. They can provide a richness to a story. A neighbor for example. They can be funny, scary or crazy. They can give insight into your main characters. They can be a professional expert in a field that the hero or heroine happens to need or the can provide conflict.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Karen, and I enjoyed every second. If your planning to go to Nationals, stop by Karen's book signing and tell her hello.

Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/not-an-angel-p-4016.html

On The Authors Couch Interviewed Me....

2010-06-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Writer Cornelle Keveen interviewed me over at "On The Authors Couch"... If you want to check out Cornelle's unique sensual charm, then come on over....

http://cornellekeveen.webs.com/ontheauthorscouch.htm

Cornelle asked some great questions...Not your "average" questions eithers...

JOKE OF THE WEEK....(for readers)

2010-06-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for this joke, but it is cute. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One morning, a husband returns his boat to the lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap.

Although not familiar with the lake, his wife decides to take the boat out.
She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book.
The peace and solitude are magnificent.

Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat.
He pulls up alongside the woman and says,
'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?'

'Reading a book,' she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?')

'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her.

'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading.'

'Yes, but I see you have all the equipment.
For all I know you could start at any moment.
I'll have to take you in and write you up.'

'If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault,' says the woman.

'But I haven't even touched you,' says the Game Warden.

'That's true, but you have all the equipment.
For all I know you could start at any moment.'

'Have a nice day ma'am,' and he left.

MORAL:
Never argue with a woman who reads.
It's likely she can also think.

Over at THE MINXES OF ROMANCE BLOG! June 9th...

2010-06-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

On JUNE 9TH - WEDNESDAY, Join me at The Minxes of Romance blog. You might learn a few things about me you wish you hadn't. (just kidding...)

(If you saw this post earlier, I meant to say Wednesday instead of Tuesday..sorry bout' that.)

http://www.minxesofromance.blogspot.com/

Honored at Coffee Time Romance - But not for my writing...

2010-06-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

This email arrived this morning from Coffee Time Romance and More. No...it's not another review....(hey! I've only had two so for.) Anyway, here is what is says....

****

I am contacting you on behalf of Coffee Time Romance & More. Your website has been chosen as this month's winner of the Caramel Corner.

Every month, our committee gets together and looks at a number of websites that have been nominated to be a spotlight website. We look at a variety of things, features, aesthetics, and functionality.
http://www.coffeetimeromance.%20com/
Have a wonderful month!***** Text of Critique follows:

When one thinks of the paranormal, grave stones, bats, a full moon, and a spooky Louisiana swamp definitely fit the bill. While visiting Dawn Chartier's website, soak up the atmosphere, learn more about the author on her bio page, check out her recent release, Not an Angel, and investigate New Orleans on her Links/Writer's Tools page. Here's hoping the ghost she's writing about in her newest work in progress, Deadly Destruction, won't follow you home ~ but if you'd like to "follow" Dawn, she has easy links to her Facebook and Twitter pages. So, come step inside The Graveyard, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay. http://www.dawnchartier.com/

Pam Skochinski
Review Editor, Coffee Time Romance~

Kewl...What an honor! Thank you CTR...

And a big ole' thank you to Chuck. (my web designer, see my website for his info)

Now off to write....

Dawn

My character tried to commit SUICIDE

2010-06-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

When I wrote Not An Angel, my character Kira was very depressed. Her baby died and her husband killed himself because of the babies death. At least this is what Kira thought. (You'll have to read the book to discover the truth) But I've done some research on suicide and thought I'd post a few WARNING SIGNS & ADVICE on SUICIDE for parents or young adults who maybe have come across some one with these signs.

Please don't ignore them. Let your friend or child know you are there for them. Listen to them carefully. Avoid criticism. Ask them directly if they are thinking about suicide. Be direct and let them know you want to help.

Now here are a 10 changes in their behavior that are sometimes warning signs:

1.) Crying often for no reason.
2.) Lack of Energy
3.) Increase or decrease in appetite.
4.) Nothing seems fun anymore.
5.) Sleeping a lot or not enough.
6.) Loss of interest in things they once enjoyed.
7.) Work or grades suffering.
8.) Giving away possessions.
9.) Tying up loose ends such as planning a funeral, writing an obituary or will.
10.) Risky behavior - Drugs, alcohol, sex, self-harm, and violence.

If you know of someone and can't talk to them, tell a trusted adult who can seek action. Take every threat seriously. Encourage your friend/child to talk. Stay with your friend/child until someone can get there to help them. And don't handle this alone. You are not responsible for the outcome.

I hope this helps someone & remember tomorrow is a new day.
Hugs,
Dawn Chartier
Not An Angel, out now!
http://www.dawnchartier.com/

OMG! Awesome!!! Review for NOT AN ANGEL (Mind-Blowing!!)

2010-05-29T07:07:00.001-07:00

Being new at this publishing business I'm not sure if posting reviews for my book is a good or bad thing. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but this is the second review that I happened to find while googling my name. (searching for reviews of course) Anywho, I'm tickled to death to see "someone" actually enjoying my book. Well, that is two "someones" now...(grin) So if you care to read the review please do...but if you think "how tacky" then just ignore me....
Other wise I'm sqeeeeeeeeing....when I see the words "mind-blowing" in a review - I gotta sqee....I'll email my sqee to all my buddies too so they can roll their eyes at me...haha...

Hugs to all!
Dawn

4 cups
"Ms. Chartier creates an intense read that keeps the reader totally engrossed. I could feel for Kira and Trace with all their conflicts they each endured. Kira was deeply grounded in her love for her family and that definitely shined through in the story. I love the way Trace fights all obstacles to protect her. Not An Angel is a captivating read. The dialogue is wonderfully penned, the emotions mind-blowing; so incredibly sincere that the reader cannot help but have their heart pierced by the way Kira and Trace always make contact in this stirring read."

Cherokee
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

TIPS FROM THE SLUSH PILE by Sara Megibow

2010-05-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to Sara's words of wisdom when it comes to queries and publishing. Here is her take on her first client and why she signed up Allison Rushby...We wish Allison much luck with her new sale Paparazzo Jo....(thanks for allowing me to share, Sara)

TIPS FROM THE SLUSH PILE by Sara Megibow

I am truly thrilled to be able to announce the sale of PAPARAZZO JO by Allison Rushby to Stacy Cantor at Walker!
Allison emailed us a query at the end of 2009 – yup, she was a slush pile find! Also exciting is the fact that this is my first sale as an agent! What an honor to be working with Allison – she is charming, enthusiastic, responsive, hard-working and VERY talented! PAPARAZZO JO represents the 117th book sale for the Nelson Literary Agency.
Please look her up at www.allisonrushby.com (there is even a teaser excerpt of JO in her News section)
So, what made PAPARAZZO JO stand out to me? First of all (and above everything else) – Allison’s query letter was professional and well-written. Great writing always stands out! Second, the concept felt unique to me – Jo is a talented 16 year-old living in LA who earns money by taking pictures of the rich and famous. Yup, she’s a paparazzo. She wants out, badly, and is offered a gig that will earn her the money to enroll in her dream classes in Paris. Unfortunately, she is going to have to betray the only star she’s ever liked.
Naturally, I asked to see the sample pages and the rest is history! I am particularly excited that Stacy Cantor will be our editor. Walker Books is the publishing house working with our client Simone Elkeles whose RULES OF ATTRACTION has been repeatedly hitting the New York Times Bestseller list. Super excited to be a part of the Walker team!!!

Congratulations Allison!

Sincerely,Sara Megibow
Associate Literary Agent

(This story sounds really great, I look forward to its release!)

Dawn Chartier
Not An Angel, TWRP
www.dawnchartier.com
www.thewildrosepress.com

FREE EBOOK CONTEST - POST A COMMENT TO WIN!!

2010-05-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

For my new paranormal romance ebook release "Not An Angel" I'm giving away a free book to someone who posts a comment on my blog about the excerpt. (See blurb and excerpt below)

Blurb:

Kira McCoy wants to die. Losing her husband and daughter tragically left her without hope. Now her disturbed brother-in-law will stop at nothing to have her for himself. All she wants is to find peace, but instead finds herself on top of a bridge ready to end her suffering.

Protector of the Poryria, Trace Stuart is called to defend his race or embrace death. Defending humans is not part of the plan, but he cannot stop himself from saving Kira.

Realizing that he shares a special bond with Kira, Trace defies his Queen and rushes into the heart of darkness in order to rescue the woman he loves. Will Kira be able to reach past her own pain to pull them both into the light?

Excerpt:

As he measured her, his gaze warmed the consuming chill that had invaded her body. She glanced down, holding the material out. Nothing she could ever afford. Standing next to him in his stunning black suit, gave her more confidence than if she wore plain clothing.
“I wouldn’t have picked it out for myself, but you have good taste.”

“I know.” Trace’s gaze traveled down her torso, to her exposed toes and slowly up to her face.

“And you take my breath away.” He kissed the inside of her wrist.

Heat shot up her inner arm overpowering any nervousness she may have felt earlier. She leaned into him and whispered, “You breathe?”

Trace half smiled. “Sometimes.”

She blinked. “Oh.” That meant sometimes he didn’t breathe either.

Trace stiffened, then glanced toward the entrance flanked with four massive columns.

It took a moment before she heard footsteps in the foyer. Five men entered the parlor. All dressed similar to Trace, except their cold penetrating eyes made her worry. Scared was more like it. One man strode toward her, eyes narrowed, mouth pulled down in a frown. She swallowed, then took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. They will not get to me. I will be strong.

“He won’t hurt you. Will you, Dev?” Trace stepped forward and crossed his arms.

Dev smirked and stared through his long dark lashes. “Depends.”

An eerie rumble vibrated the room. Kira advanced toward Trace. The sound of a wild cat drifted in the air. She tilted her head, glanced at Trace and realized the noise came from him.

“Boys. Boys. Boys. Dev won’t touch her, but I might.” A slender brunette appeared out of thin air and stood directly in front of the other men.

Oh hell.

BP Oil Spill: Frustrated Plaquemines Parish President Nungesser Lashes ...

2010-05-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

Blog On Hold ~

2010-05-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

My blog will be inactive due to a death in my family.
I will return next week.

Thank you,
Dawn Chartier
Not An Angel, TWRP

MY FIRST BOOK REVIEW FOR NOT AN ANGEL

2010-05-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I found an email in my inbox, and I had no idea who it was from, but I decided to open it anyway. I was so glad I did. It was my very "first" review....

Click here to see what it said...

http://goteroticromance.blogspot.com/2010/05/not-angel-by-dawn-chartier.html?zx=c76fc6ff13485df5

Dawn Chartier
Not An Angel, TWRP
www.thewildrosepress.com