How important is your setting?

by Maria Geraci

There's three rules in real estate and we all know what they are. Location, location, location. Where your house or real estate is located will not only determine the asking price, but it will also influence how quickly it sells. Everyone wants prime real estate, and fiction is no exception. Your story setting is almost (and in some cases) just as important as your characters, their goals, and motivation. In fact, your setting is most likely intertwined with your story in such a way that you couldn't separate it out. Think of Stephanie Plum outside of New Jersey. Nope. Can't do it. And I wouldn't want to either.

World building is the backdrop to any good story. Your characters have to be believable and so does the world they inhabit.

Now, when I say real, what I mean is, it has to feel real to the reader. When the reader flips through the pages of your story, she has to be able to "see" the world you've built. It must feel familiar in a way that she can understand, even if it's exotic and faraway.

Think of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I've never been to Scotland (and neither had Gabaldon when she began writing Outlander), but her descriptions feel real to me, probably because she's a fantastic writer, but also because she researched the hell out of it.

I don't write rich lush historical novels. I write contemporary romance and women's fiction. All my stories are different, but they all have one thing in common. Location. They're all set in Florida. Partly because the stories lend themselves to the beach setting, but mostly because that's where I'm from. It's where I was raised and it's what I know. I know the people, the weather, the inside jokes, the uniqueness of living here. I love being a Floridian, and I think it shows in my writing.

In my third novel, THE BOYFRIEND OF THE MONTH CLUB, the majority of the story takes place in a small Daytona Beach tourist trap called Florida Charlies (totally fictional). Florida Charlies was a homage to the dozens of tacky tourist shops I used to visit as a kid on family vacations to old Florida standards like Weeki Wachi and Silver Springs (pre-Disney Florida amusement parks). There was a huge neon flamingo on top of the shop that could be seen from miles away. I had a lot of fun creating that shop. It was as as real to me as the characters in the book and the novel's main story line intersects with the events happening in the shop. If I took the shop out, my story would have suffered.

How do you go about choosing the setting for your novels? Are all your settings similar (like mine) or have they all been different? Do you write what "you know" or do you research heavily?


Maria Geraci writes fun, romantic women's fiction. You can visit her website at www.mariageraci.com.

My future in publishing and a giveaway!

THE RANDOM GENERATOR HAS SPOKEN. THE WINNER OF AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE BOYFRIEND OF THE MONTH CLUB IS: JEANNENE WALKER. PLEASE EMAIL ME AT mariageraci1@gmail.com with your address so I can put your copy in the mail. Congratulations!



My Future in Publishing
by Maria Geraci

Today, my third baby goes out into the world. My third novel, that is. You’d think by now I’d be a pro. Or at least a semi-pro. And although I’m a bit more savvy about publishing than I was eighteen months ago, in a lot of ways I still feel like an amateur.

A few months ago I attended the first day of the Novelists, Inc, conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a day of forum workshops led by some of the biggest names in the publishing industry- agents, editors, attorneys, publicists, New York Times best selling authors. The topic was the future of publishing. I was surprised (or maybe I shouldn’t have been) to discover that a lot of those people are as clueless as I am. Okay, maybe not as clueless, but the bottom line was that nobody really knows what’s going on in publishing today. The advent of e-publishing is changing what we refer to as “the book” in much the same way as the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press did almost 600 years ago. Book stores are going out of business, print runs are declining, self-publishing is on the rise, and Google and Amazon are plotting to take over the world. If it’s confusing seasoned pros, how’s a newbie like myself going to survive in this rapidly evolving world of publishing?

I’ll never forget the moment when one author in the audience raised her hand to ask this question, “What can an author do to help promote her books if she has a relatively low print run, like say, 20,000?”

There was a pause. You know that pause. When everyone in the panel turned and looked at each other with the expression that said, “who’s going to answer that one?”

And then one brave soul (I wish I could remember who said it) looked the audience straight in the eyes and said, “Absolutely nothing.”

No one gasped. No one shook their heads in disbelief. Instead it was met with a lot of knowing smirks and nods. Because the truth is, in a lot of ways, that answer is correct. There’s a lot in publishing that as an author, is completely out of our control. Like print runs. And co-ops. And bad covers.

But there’s one thing that is completely within our control. And that’s writing the best book that we can. We heard that advice a lot from the panel. And while there was still some smirking in the audience (I mean, who doesn’t set out to write the best book they can?) the panel was right on about that. A good book plus lots of positive word of mouth is still the recipe for a successful novel.

And the new word of mouth is, dare I say it? Social networking. It’s the promotion mantra of the new millennium. And while a part of me is sick to death of hearing about it, there’s the other part of me that thinks social networking, while sometimes overrated, is good. Print runs may be down, but people are still reading. They’re just using a different medium (the internet). And that same medium offers authors like myself (those of us who don’t have big print runs) a chance to expand our fan base with electronic word of mouth.

So how’s my future in publishing looking these days? Well, I wrote the best book I could, and I’m promoting it the best way I know how. The rest is up to the cosmos. The one thing I do know is that I’ll keep writing books and somehow they’ll get published (even if I have to do the self-publishing thing) because my future relies solely on me. And that, at least, is something that I can control.

That all said, I’ll happy, proud and just down right tickled to announce that my third novel, The Boyfriend of the Month Club is out in bookstores everywhere today! It’s a romantic comedy about a woman who turns her dysfunctional book club into a boyfriend club where members critique the men they’ve dated, comparing them to classic literary heroes and villains.

At thirty, Grace O’Bryan has dated every loser that Daytona Beach has to offer. After the ultimate date-from-hell, Grace decides to take matters into her own hands and turns her dwindling book club into a boyfriend of the month Club, where women can come together to discuss the eligible men in their community. Where are the real live twenty-first century versions of literary heroes such as Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy?

Could it be successful and handsome Brandon Farrell, who is willing to overlook his disastrous first date with Grace and offers financial help for her parents’ failing Florida gift shop? Or maybe sexy dentist Joe Rosenblum, who’s great with a smile but not so great at commitment? Unfortunately, just like books, men cannot always be judged by their covers…

"Romance readers will revel in the Austen-perfect happy ending and the warm friendships among members of the club." Publishers Weekly

Leave a comment and I’ll randomly select one person to win an autographed copy! US and Canada only, please. I’ll announce the winner on top of this post Wednesday morning. Good luck!

Maria Geraci writes fun, romantic women's fiction. You can learn more about her books at her website http://www.mariageraci.com/ or her Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MariaGeraciBooks

Writing Romance in the Closet

TUESDAY MORNING EDIT: THE WINNER OF THE ARC GIVEAWAY IS: SARAH PEKKANEN. Sarah, please email at mariageraci1@gmail.com with your address so I can put the book in the mail. Thanks to everyone who commented!

Hi there. I'm Maria Geraci, writer of fun, romantic women's fiction. I'm also a wife, mother to three kids, and a part-time labor and delivery nurse.

When I began writing my own blog a few years back, one of the first things I did was think of a name. Blogs are supposed to have catchy titles and I wanted mine to stand out. Writing Romance in the Closet was perfect because I really did write in a closet (it's a small walk-in that my hubby gave up so I could have a room of my own).

But the title was more than just a description for the place I wrote. It was also a metaphor for my life.

At the time, only a handful of people knew that I was writing fiction. I had a full life already. Wife, mother, nurse. Plus, I was in my early forties, not an age when most people set out to do something that they've never done before. There was a little voice whispering in my head telling me I was crazy. I had a house to clean! Scrapbooks to put together. Kids to take to soccer practice. What was I doing holed up in my tiny, windowless room plugging away at my laptop? Unlike most writers, I never grew up with a burning desire to write. I never wrote poetry or short stories. I was happy and fulfilled. Until one day, I wasn't. And it came to me like the lightning rod epiphany you hear so much about in movies and books. I simply sat down to start writing. And found that I couldn't stop.

Of course, I couldn't stop being a wife, mother, or nurse either because as much as I loved the writing, the rest of my life went on. And then something miraculous happened. I found an agent. And she sold my book! So I had to start telling people what I was doing, although it was still hard to think of myself as a "real" writer. I think when you spend so many years being other things, it's hard to change directions. But what I've found in the past year and half since my first book came out is that you don't have to be just one, or even two things. We can be a lot of things. We just have to find a way to make it all mesh somehow. Some days it's harder than others, but in the end it's worth it. I couldn't imagine going back to where I was just a few years ago. And that makes me really excited to think where I might be a few years from now.

So remember that third book I have coming out later this year? I have ARCs! And I'd love to give one away. Just leave a comment by midnight Monday and I'll have the random generator select one winner. I'll edit my post the next morning to tell you who won.

Here's a little bit about the book.

THE BOYFRIEND OF THE MONTH CLUB
coming December, 2010
Berkley, Penguin USA


At thirty, Grace O'Bryan has dated every loser in Daytona Beach. After the ultimate date-from-hell, Grace decides to turn her dwindling book club into a Boyfriend of the Month Club, where women can discuss the eligible men in their community. Where are the real life twenty-first century versions of literary heroes such as Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy?

Could it be successful and handsome Brandon Farrell, who is willing to overlook his disastrous first date with Grace and offers financial help for her parents' failing Florida gift shop? Or maybe sexy dentist Joe Rosenblum, who's great with a smile but not so great at commitment? Unfortunately, like books, men cannot always be judged by their covers...

To learn more about my books please visit me at www.mariageraci.com or join my Facebook page.