I’d Rather Buy Books …

… than food or clothes.

You heard me. Grocery shopping is a necessary evil and I do it because we love to eat. Shopping for clothes is something I put off until there are holes in my socks and my jeans are frayed.

But give me a bookstore – online, on the street corner, or in the mall – and I’ll gladly spend hours browsing the shelves, checking out covers, and reading back cover blurbs.

When I return home from my shopping spree, I’ll spread the books around me, then study the covers and reread the back story blurb. Or if I’ve purchased the books online and downloaded them to my Kindle, I’ll open each one up so I can view the cover and read the opening pages – copyright, acknowledgments, and story blurb or excerpt.

Then comes the moment when I have to pick which book to read first. If I have a favourite author in the mix, I’ll usually start with her book. Sometimes a story blurb will so intrigue me, my curiosity gets the best of me and I’ll dive into that book instead.

I dream about moving my household into the local library, where I can be surrounded by books 24/7 and browse at will. I’d be the happiest woman in town … except for when it came time to dust each and every book on the shelves.

Hello, my precious books. You are better than gold.

How about you? When buying books or bringing them home, what is your reading MO?

Welcome Lisa Mondello!

Please welcome to Women Unplugged bestselling author Lisa Mondello! I first met Lisa online through a romance loop for independent authors. Lisa is one of the most forthright authors I have ever met, always willing to answer my questions or provide guidance. I hope you enjoy getting to know Lisa and be sure to say hi in the comment section.

CH: Can you tell me about your ideal reader?
LM: I’m not sure I have an ideal reader.  I want people to be entertained by my stories. For the most part the response to my books has been fabulous.  But every so often I miss the mark with a reader.  And that’s okay too.  I don’t like everything I read either.  So I guess I don’t really have an ideal reader, except I’d love those readers who do enjoy my books to keep coming back to read my back list.

CH: Are you a full time writer? How did you get into writing and why?

LM: I am a full time writer and have been for several years.  Although I’ve written fiction for over 16 years professionally, my main job while I was trying to break in was freelance work, writing web copy and sales letters.  It paid the bills.  But I’m phasing a lot of that out so I can do more fiction and screenwriting.

CH: What do you do when you aren’t writing?

LM: Listening to music and watching movies.  I’m a big movie buff and I love music of all kinds.  In fact, my kids tell me to turn down the stereo all the time.  What a twist, huh?

CH: Where do you get your ideas?

LM: From everywhere.  I’m working on a story that started out after I read a 3 star review on a book and it turned into a story where a restaurant owner, who has major OCD about her kitchen tools, falls in love with the restaurant critic who had the nerve to give her restaurant a mere 3 star review.  It’s a romantic comedy and I’m having fun with it.

CH: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

LM: Neither, I’m a puzzler.  LOL!  Aren’t you glad you asked me this question?  In fact, I do a workshop on the 4 types of writing profiles for writers, linear, pantser, plotter and puzzler.  I write completely out of order.  It’s not uncommon for me to have an opening scene and an ending written before I even flesh out the story.

CH: Do you design your own covers or use a designer?

LM: I’ve done both. I like having someone else do my covers because sometimes I get tunnel vision.  I like collaborating and getting someone else’s perspective.

CH: Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

LM: I write all over the place; contemporary romance, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, young adult and inspirational.  I hate limiting myself.  But I do like working on series for the same reason readers like reading them.  I like to revisit characters I’ve become fond of.  And you always wonder how that secondary character you introduced is doing. <G>

CH: Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

LM: Well, I’ve never been chased by a Colombian drug lord so that is purely fiction.  But the town featured in Cradle of Secrets was clearly modeled after the town I live in.  I wrote a book, The More I See, about a cutting horse trainer who went blind and I’ve never been blind or been on a cutting horse.  But that story was inspired by a friend who’d gone blind for a time and had a guide dog named Otis. I was so impressed by that dog that I had to write a story featuring him!  I also worked with the past president of the National Cutting Horse Association on that book to make sure my research was right.   My book Gypsy Hearts was inspired by my time managing a Boston rock band.  And my Fate with a Helping Hand series is set in Massachusetts in places where I’ve lived and spent a great deal of time.  Other than that, the stories are purely fiction.  I don’t model characters after real life people, although I have used my husband’s stories from when he was a Marine in my books from time to time.

CH: How do you come up with titles?

LM: Sometimes they come before I even start the story and then I change them once I have a handle on where the story is going.  Sometimes, specifically with my Harlequin books, I check out Romantic Times Magazine and see what titles are being used in order to help inspire me so I can give my editor suggestions.  Publishers almost always change the title, so it’s good not to be wed to one in particular.

CH: Do you set writing goals for yourself? If so, are they daily, weekly or monthly?

LM: I do set goals…and I break them.  I’m better with goals and deadlines other people give me.  I know I can break my own deadlines because they’re not set in stone.  Doing freelance for so long I’ve learned to be a back-to-the-wall writer where I can turn out pages fast if I have to.

CH: What do you do when you get stuck while writing a book?LM: Clean the house.  There’s something about facing the toilet bowl that brings clarity. Seriously, I think no-mind work helps to free up the creative side of the brain and get the ideas flowing.  Having said that, I have been inspired while doing housework and have left the toilet brush in the bowl when inspiration strikes.  My family is used to half-done housework.

CH: Tell us about your upcoming book or new release.

LM: By the time this blog is released I will have released 3 of my 4 Texas Hearts Romance back list books as ebooks for Kindle, Nook, Sony, iTunes and Smashwords.  This is a series I wrote for Avalon Books years ago and I’m thrilled to have these books released to a new audience.  The books are Her Heart for the Asking, His Heart for the Trusting and The More I See.  I will also be releasing a new Romantic Thriller in April w/a L.A. Mondello, called Material Witness.  And then a young adult romance I wrote with my daughter will be released in May.  That’s called No Strings Attached.  So 2012 will see a lot of new book releases from me.

CH: If you couldn’t be a writer, what would you be?

LM: A special education teacher.  I’ve worked in special education as a paraprofessional aid, specifically with learning disabled and autistic children and I loved it.  It was one of those jobs where I’d forget I was getting paid to do it.  I’d thought about going back to school and getting my teaching degree at one time, but both writing and teaching are huge commitments and I tend to throw myself fully into what I do.  One or the other would have suffered if I’d tried to do both.  So I went with my first love and continued writing.

CH: What advice would you give to authors considering self-publishing?

LM:

a.       Know what you want out of self-publishing.  It helps to know if you’re doing it for the money, to create a buzz with your traditionally published work or if you’re trying to get exposure to attract an agent or publisher.  Then you can plan a strategy.

b.      Make a writing plan – how many books do you intend to self-publish, how often, what do you want to accomplish by self-publishing?

c.       Make a marketing plan and make sure you network with lots of other self-published authors so you can learn the ropes.  Once you self-publish, you’re wearing lots of hats and messing up your hair every time you change them.

d.      Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to spend a lot of money to get published.  You don’t.  There are a lot of free ways to get your books released and get exposure.  Network and keep learning.

CH: Having done both, how does self-publishing differ from traditional publishing?

LM: There is definitely something to be said about writing the book and only thinking about the story.  I like being traditionally published and don’t plan on abandoning that for self-publishing.  However, having published my first book in 1998, I was fortunate enough to have a back list of books and have the rights to those stories reverted back to me.  They were just sitting on my hard drive.  So it seemed like a natural progression to try to do something with them to give my readers a chance to read stories that were published and went out of print before my current releases were published.  So far it’s been working out well.  But self-publishing is a lot of work and you need to be prepared and constantly think about promotion, something that is normally left up to the publishing houses.

Lisa Mondello is the best selling author of 13 published books. Her first published book, the award winning ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, was recently reissued as an ebook and has had over 350,000 downloads worldwide. In addition to publishing her Fate with a Helping Hand series, which includes ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT and THE KNIGHT AND MAGGIE’S BABY, she is releasing her popular Texas Hearts series as ebooks in February 2012.  Texas Hearts is HER HEART FOR THE ASKING, HIS HEART FOR THE TRUSTING and THE MORE I SEE.  She currently writes for Harlequin Books and is collaborating with a film producer/screenwriter on a screenplay.

She loves to hear from readers. You can email her atLisaMondello@aol.com, find her on her blog talking about writing, movies and music at http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com or chat on Twitter at @LisaMondello

What’s On Your Mind?

Have you been getting a lot of calls from pollsters lately? I have.  Not just about hot, election topics—most pollsters regret asking my opinion on politics pretty quickly.   But I’m also getting daily calls asking my “feelings” about dish soap and toilet paper.  Seriously, the last guy actually used the word feelings.  Yeah, dude, I want my TP to work and not cost a lot.  Kapeesh?

I’m grouchy because my wrist hurts after breaking it this weekend.  No, there’s not a ‘good story’ associated with my slip and fall.  (Which just goes to show you how successful my fiction career is right now because I can’t even come up with a fascinating tale to deflect attention from my klutziness.)  Instead, I came up with my own opinion poll.  And there’s not a single mention of my feelings about soap or toilet paper.  But, there are a few things on the list that a gal can have strong opinions on:

“Photo-shopped” abs Or

“Scarlett, I don’t give a damn” abs

Red wine Or white wine

Chocolate Or vanilla (seriously, who picks vanilla?)

Piano Or acoustic guitar

Coke Or Pepsi

American Idol Or The Voice

Glee Or Smash

George Clooney Or

Brian Williams

Skittles Or M&M’s

dogs Or cats

Jane Austen Or Nora Roberts

Facebook Or Pinterest

pizza Or pasta

Zumba Or Pilates

The Wizard of Oz Or The Princess Bride

Mayhem Or

Discount Double Check

Tim Tebow Or Jeremy Lin

SUV Or Convertible (trust me, someone will pick the SUV)

bubble bath Or hot shower

beach vacation Or ski vacation

Sunday paper Or iPad

theatre Or sporting event

candlelight Or lights out

Kindle Or Nook

Letterman Or

Kimmel

Stouffers macaroni and cheese Or Kraft macaroni and cheese

People magazine Or Vanity Fair

midnight snack Or moonlight swim

I could go on here, but my wrist is killing me—and clearly the pain meds are killing a few brain cells. Feel free to leave a comment or offer up your own opinions.  Just no Mitt, Rick, or Newt, please!

Chocolate, anyone?

On today, the day after the sugary-sweetest day of the year….aka….Valentine’s Day, I pose a question.  Actually, two questions.

1) What did you do for Valentine’s Day?  Big plans?  Little plans?  Something special with someone?  Or do you write it off as another commercial day.

 

2) What is your favorite candy?

 

As for myself, we don’t do much anymore.  By that, I mean we don’t buy expensive gifts or make dinner reservations that require ties or pantyhose.  He usually makes me the dinner he made me on our first date…grilled shrimp kabobs.  And I usually try to do something sweet like leaving little Butterfingers (his favorite candy) in hidden places around the house with little notes.  It’s not much, but it’s fun.

This year, he tells me he got me this for Valentine’s Day.

 

Now, while I’m very much in LOVVVVVVVVE with this beautiful red gem… I pay the car notes so “gift” is a little loose for a description.

Now, as for the other question…

I love DARK CHOCOLATE.  Actually, I love any kind of chocolate.  Nutter Butter cookies dipped in chocolate….oh my goodness.  But dark chocolate is my true love.

 

So tell me about your day…and your crutch! 

 

Interesting Tidbits from the Garden

Did you know that parsley is a natural breath freshener?  Yep.  A couple of chomps on this distinctive green and you’ll feel minty fresh and ready to converse.  So next time you see that little gem on your dinner plate, pluck a few leaves off and plop them in your mouth.  Your table companions will thank you.

Basil?  This one is just pain delicious with a scent rivaling the rose–IMHO–but guess what?  It’s also good for digestion.  And you probably know that chamomile has calming abilities, but how about lavender?  I don’t know about you, but every time I catch the scent of lavender I’m instantly transformed into a relaxing machine!

But lavender does double-duty.  Not only is it perfect for bath time before bed, this plant is said to repel fleas.  *gee* Does it get any better?  Plant it everywhere–inside, outside, you name it!

Talk about two-timing duties, did you know that cilantro and coriander come from the same plant?  Yes, ma’am!  The first leaves are used as cilantro (think salsa), but if you let it continue to grow and flower, you’ll find yourself with a whole host of coriander seeds.  Awesome.  Just awesome.

One of my all-time favorite herbs is rosemary.  Not only does it make for a great hedge around the house, but this one provides a natural mental boost.  Simply brush your hands through its leaves and inhale.  Ahhh…….  Better yet, it prevents forgetfulness. Woo hoo!  I mean, who doesn’t need that? 

And your kids will love this one:  how about growing your own sugar?  Well, in so many words, that is.  Stevia is a plant that produces naturally sweet leaves–leaves you can use to sweeten almost anything.  The kids and I made a lovely cucumber soup sweetened with stevia, and it was delightful.  (They ate it, anyway.)  But how about lemonade?  Pull a few lemons from that tree and juice them up, add a few leaves of stevia and blend.  Voila!  Instant homemade lemonade to die for.  Add a cup of steeped rosemary per gallon of lemonade and now you have yourself a REAL treat.  For this recipe and others, check out my garden blog Bloominthyme!

Caution:  if you love both basil and rosemary, be aware that planting basil near rosemary can KILL your rosemary plant.  Who knew? 

Got ants?   No problem.  Plant mint–peppermint, spearmint, plain mint–they’re all good not to mention they make wonderful borders along walkways and flower beds.  Last but not least is my beloved aloe plant.  You may have heard this one is good for burns and you heard right.  Anytime I burn myself slaving away over a hot stove or oven (the things I do for my family), I immediately cut a spiked aloe leaf and rub the gooey salve directly on the fresh wound.  I’ll warn you, it’s stinky (and stains), but doing so will eliminate any scar you may otherwise have suffered.  LOVE it!

So what do you say?  Know of any special herbs or plants in the garden with outstanding qualities that I missed?