18-Jul-2006
JERRI CORGIAT’S NEWSLETTER
July/August 2006
www.jerricorgiat.com
CONTENTS:
Note to Readers
News
Feature Article: WHEN THE PROPOSAL’S A DUD... Again!
Best Book(s) I’ve Read This Month
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Dear Readers,
Summer snuck right up on me—and now you’re telling me it’s halfway over?! While I enjoyed over a week in my favorite summer spot—the Ozarks, of course!—I’m spending most of these gloriously long, hot days bent over my keyboard to meet an end-of-season deadline.
But I am managing daily walks with my dog, Rose, a half-German Shepherd, half-Labrador, and entirely-spoiled source of entertainment. (If you look “entitled” up in the dictionary, you’ll see her picture.) I’ve also attended outdoor theater events under the stars. And recently spent a fun evening at a semi-pro baseball game. July Fourth, I lounged on the banks of the Lake of the Ozarks (bug spray in hand) and watched the sky overhead explode with color.
I hope you’re finding plenty of favorite things to do this summer, too!
Jerri
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NEWS:
My fourth novel, HOME BY STARLIGHT, was released July 5...
...and I’m pleased to announce it’s also a featured alternate for Doubleday, Rhapsody, and Literary Guild book clubs this summer!
...and I’m also going to brag a little with a few excerpts from recent reviews:
From RT BookClub, 4.5 stars!
“Corgiat brings her characteristic skillful narration, wry humor and hometown charm... to her latest... The leads in this eocompelling story are delightfully multidimensional and honest, and the warmth of the community they inhabit is palpable.”
From Romance Junkies:
“Life’s simple charms flow out of the pages of this story and into the reader’s heart...Ms. Corgiat, your talent for writing about the beautiful graces of life is quite evident in HOME BY STARLIGHT.”
From Romance Readers Connection:
“A refreshingly different novel that breaks out of the traditional ‘romance mold.’ Not another cookie-cutter romance whose story you’ve read too many times.”
If you’re inclined, read an excerpt at www.jerricorgiat.com.
For those of you who have recently written to tell me how much you’ve enjoyed HOME BY STARLIGHT, I’m thrilled you did and promise you personal replies soon. Forgive me for the delay!
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FEATURE ARTICLE: WHEN THE PROPOSAL’S A DUD... Again!!!
My last newsletter (in May) started: “So I told you in December how I was creating this proposal and what a wonderful idea, indeed, that I had. But unfortunately, once it was done, each letter polished within an inch of its short little life... my agent said it sucked...”
And then I went on to relay how that was okay, I’d started a new book, and I loved it, and my agent loved it, but the acid test would come when it passed over my editor’s desk.
And, sigh, do I really need to tell you what happened?
Actually, this time the novel didn’t suck. This time it was just the wrong kind of novel. That’s right. After spending months headed one direction, I was asked to pivot one-eighty degrees and write another book for the HOME series.
Why? Because my numbers—those all-important numbers called “sell-through” and “print run” and “earn out” had recently been totted up by whoever tracks these things. And I was told I was “outperforming my slot.” Which I guess is a great thing if you know how, exactly, that transforms into dollars and cents (I don’t).
(And, of course, that deal I told you about for my fourth novel—the one with the book clubs—had registered in a number of decision-making heads.)
So... why not continue the trend I’d started?
Why not, indeed!
I had to do some scrambling, some intense deliberation, some mighty re-thinking... but I love the HOME series, love the fictional realm I’ve created in Cordelia, Missouri, and am, believe it or not, as interested as I hope you are to find out what’s happened to a number of the characters that have populated the pages of the first four books. So it wasn’t long before a story whispered in my head, the story of Florida Jones, sister to Dakota, who was featured in my second book, FOLLOW ME HOME. I’ll be scribbling madly for the rest of the summer, and the fifth in the series that started with SING ME HOME will be published in September 2007 (if it’s not moved somewhere else).
I’ll admit to some twinges, though, as the characters of that other novel have now been abandoned to an uncertain future. But I’ll ressurrect them once this book is completed and we’ll see if they can successfully run the gauntlet the next time.
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BOOK(s) I’VE READ SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER:
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, by Arthur Golden
Yes, I’m behind the times. Once I’d seen the movie, I was eager to read more about this woman, this time, this way of life. Arthur Golden blew me away—not only successfully writing in a woman’s voice, but the voice of a different culture and time.
SOLOMON VS. LORD by Paul Levine.
Snappy dialogue, believable courtroom scenes, wonderful characters, twists and turns and mayhem and murder. I loved it!
GONE FOR GOOD by Harlan Coben
This was my first foray with this popular author. What a twisting ride of a tale!
QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT by Meghan Daum
I just started this novel, but I’m captivated by the humor and straightforward honesty of the writing.
BIRD BY BIRD by Ann LaMott
I’m re-reading this popular book on writing. No matter how many times I’ve been through it, I always find something that speaks to me!
Happy Reading!
Jerri
