Happy Anniversary to the Word Wenches!
by Mary Jo
This is the 12th anniversary of the Word Wenches! I hope you joined Anne's celebration tea party on Monday. (The cakes and tea cups were splendid!)
Today, we continue the celebrations with reminiscences and book giveaways. 12 years is a long time, and in the way publishing has changed, it's eons.
Back in 2006, blogs were the Hot New Thing. Authors wanted to be able to reach readers, interact with them, and sell books. But it seemed like so much work! Surely better to put together a group and take turns?
The idea was sparked when Susan King and I had lunch with Eileen Buckholtz, a web goddess and friend. We decided to ask a few friends if they'd like to join with us, and to my surprise, everyone we asked said yes, even the most extreme of introverts. Turns out we all wanted to chat, interact, and sell books.
Blogging seemed very mysterious at the beginning, but we eventually figured it out. (Regency writer Candice Hern was a great help since she was already an experienced blogger and has fabulous collections on her web site.) Our first post was on May 22nd, 2006, and we're still standing after all those years. <G>
Much has changed over the years as we've lost some Wenches, and acquired wonderful new ones who bring their own special stories and talents. As the writing world has changed, some of us have moved in different directions like mainstream historicals, mysteries, and paranormals.
In 2006, I was in my paranormal historical phase. I love fantasy, so I loved blending magic with real history and romance. In 2006, Stolen Magic, Book 2 of my Guardian Trilogy, was published, and I was working on Book 3, A Distant Magic. I wrote seven paranormal historicals all together, 4 adult and 3 young adult, but a year later I moved back into more traditional historical romance because in this business, things are always changing.
As one of the original Wenches, I figure I've written over 300 blogs. (!!!) But I like doing these short pieces about all sorts of topics, I love interacting with readers, and most of all, I love hanging out with my wonderfully talented, good-natured fellow Wenches. Good times, then and now!
Pat Rice:
Wow, twelve years ago, the days of innocence! I think that was right after we moved from NC to MO—while I was frantically trying to write for two different publishers in two totally different genres. MAGIC MAN was out that year, the last book in my historical Magical Malcolm series. I was diving into the Mystic Isle series for what was called Penguin Signet Eclipse at the time. I was also happily writing contemporary romance for Random House Ballantine. SMALL TOWN GIRL (now REBEL GIRL) was out in 2006, and I was working on SWEET HOME CAROLINA (now HOME TOWN REBEL). And now both those publishers are one huge publisher—who would have known?
And even back then everyone was telling us we had to promote, promote, promote. The idea of writing a blog every single day—on top of writing two books—boggled my wee little mind. I happily attended conferences and book signings but online promo? I didn’t even manage a newsletter, and I think Myspace was probably the social media of the day. So it just seemed logical to solicit the help of a few friends, and voila—the Wenches were born.
It’s been a magical twelve years, and I wouldn’t have missed the friendship of these fabulous authors or this chance to "talk" to readers for anything!
Anne Gracie:
May 2006. I was waiting for my third book with Berkley (The Perfect Stranger) to come out the following month and wrestling frantically with the fourth. I'm not sure when I started reading the Wench blog, but it was pretty early — they blogged daily at first, and it soon became my morning ritual to read the blog with my morning coffee. It was irresistible — so many of my favorite historical writers there in one scoop! I didn't just enjoy the blogs — the discussions in the comment stream were also interesting and intelligent.
I met Mary Jo and Jo and Pat the following March at a small writers' conference in San Diego. By that time they'd changed to blogging only 3 times a week and I missed those in-between days. I recall the look on their faces when I told them I wished they'd go back to blogging daily. I think of that look often, when I wail to myself, "My time to blog again? Already?" after a fortnight.
I was thrilled when, the following year, I was invited to join the wenches. I started as MJP's guest (on Valentine's Day 2008), and in October, I became an official Wench and made my first post.
Since then, I've been in daily email contact with the wenches, and we've met up in person whenever we can -- from long, talky chats over wine in hotel rooms and bars, to road trips through the desert and joint workshops and panels. We've seen each other through ups and downs, through the passing of Edith Layton and Jo Beverley, through Mary Jo's wedding, Pat and Joanna's house moves, Nicola's house extension, Andrea's House Move from Hell, the various adventures of beloved cats and dogs, and the endless ups and downs of this writing life. We're more than colleagues — we're friends.
Andrea Penrose/Andrea Pickens/Cara Elliott:
As 2006 began, I was just coming out of a rocky stretch in my writing career. The shutting down of the Signet Regency line had left me “homeless," and for a long time I had been without a contract. It wasn’t easy to find a way to break into the historical market (publishers wanted something different—and sexier—than the traditional tropes) but finally in November 2005 I signed with Warner Books (now Grand Central/Hachette) to do a Regency-set series on a secret school for kick-ass lady spies. (Which I pitched as Jane Austen meets James Bond.)
I had met Mary Jo several years before and at the 2006 RWA she was nice enough to congratulate me when we bumped into each other (She had been her usual kind self in given me a pep talk the year before when I was really feeling down.) When I learned about the blog, I became a total fan girl—I mean, here were these amazing authors who not only wrote my favorite books but also shared such interesting—and humorous—research and musing on Life.
When Mary Jo called me in 2009 and asked if I’d be interested in becoming a Wench, I think I nearly fell off my chair. With much excitement—and yes, a little trepidation—I said yes, and my first post appeared in April. Even back then, the buzzword in the writing world was having a “platform” for self promotion, so a lot of other authors told me how lucky I was because the Word Wenches was a mega-platform.
They were right about the lucky—but not because of the business aspect. The friendship we’ve all developed over the years is incredible special to me. We talk almost every day on our loop about all sorts of things, from the serious to the silly to the sublime. We celebrate each other’s triumphs and send hugs when Life throws a curveball. In this crazy world of publishing ups and downs, my fellow Wenches and all our wonderful readers have been a source of constant joy.
Joanna Bourne:
I do not have a good memory. Pulling up what I did in 2006 (or, indeed, any other year, or last week for that matter,) is like mining fathomless depths for an obscure mineral needed in circuit boards. Germanium, maybe. Or molybdenum.
I was an enthusiastic Romance Reader that year – I’ve been a mad Romance Reader since the Jurassic. And some of my favorite authors are right here in Word Wenches. I was also a still-unhatched chick of an author. I’d sold Spymaster’s Lady the year before but it wasn’t in print yet.
2006 was the year I slogged through draft after draft of My Lord and Spymaster, full of uncertainty and elation, with occasional forays into being uncertain and elated while I worked through the edits of Spymaster’s Lady.
I don’t know when I first started reading the Word Wenches, but it was early on, soon after the foundation. I ran into the place googling for what an author needs most. Facts, facts, and more facts. So much historical fact! New books to glom. Recommendations. Book discussions!
I bookmarked Word Wenches and came back again and again. The rest is history.
Susan King/Sarah Gabriel/Susan Fraser King
Twelve years already, wow! In 2006, Mary Jo and I had lunch with Eileen, who had wonderful suggestions as we talked about connecting with readers in fresh ways. Blogs were new and different then, so we decided to give it a try. We reached out to Pat Rice first, and we all realized that an active blog would need more authors, so we invited a few more friends.
Eileen designed the site and got us set up while we figured out how to divvy up the responsibilities (we blogged every day for a while - that didn't last!). From the start, we were a natural team, each one supporting the others. Our roster has changed a bit - Pat, Mary Jo, and I are the Originals - but we are, at heart, friends who care about each other, and that influences how the blog works for all -- and we hope our readers sense that, too. I feel honored to be part of this.
In May 2006, I was writing for two publishers, writing romances for Avon as Sarah Gabriel, fun stories including Keeping Kate that I loved doing, and at the same time, I was gearing up to leap in a new direction. While writing the romances, I started a seriously challenging project that would take a few years - writing Lady Macbeth for Random House. Juggling two or more books at once, working in a house full of teens and college kids, and then adding a busy blog to that -- well, it turned out to be the right chance to take. I'm so glad to be part of this incredible group of strong women and talented writers, and I'm thankful for twelve great years of friendship and growth!
Susanna Kearsley
2006 was a bit of a blur for me. I was still dealing—not all that well, to be honest—with losing my sister to cancer in the autumn of 2005, and was battling situational depression. So I started the year with some much-needed time away, in Cruden Bay in the northeast of Scotland, to research the book I was writing. I sat in the dunes and I walked on the coast path and looked at the wide endless waves of the winter sea. And bit by bit, life and I started finding our way back together.
After ages of trying to find a home for the manuscript of my novel Every Secret Thing, it was published that autumn in the UK and Canada (at the time this was under a short-lived, thriller-writing pseudonym, though it’s since been reissued as proper Susanna Kearsley book) where it started to gather some nice reviews and restore my bruised confidence. And in December of that year, I sent my agent the final, revised version of my new manuscript for a little book called The Winter Sea, for which we all had great hopes…
It was The Winter Sea, in fact, that connected me to Nicola, who invited me here as a guest for an interview back in 2009, at which time I was made an Honorary Word Wench.
When I was invited to become a REAL Wench seven years later, I was beyond honored. No one will ever be able to fll the place left by Jo Beverley’s passing, but just as my sister is always beside me, I feel Jo here, too, warmly shifting her chair aside to make space at this table of friends, for the newcomer.
And what a wonderful table it is.
Mary Jo again, talking about our Word Wench book giveaway:
We're giving away books to commenters who post between now and Thursday midnight. Here's a list of the goodies (details will be worked out between Wenches and winners)
MJP--print in US or a Kindle e-book world-wide
Pat--an e-book
Anne--one print book, winner's choice
Andrea--an e-book of her new release Smoke and Lies.
Nicola-- print or e-book (revised offer)
Joanna--a print book, winner's choice, US only
Susan--print or e-book
Susanna--a print copy of The Winter Sea, world wide
And please, if you have reminiscences of your interactions with the Word Wenches, please share--
Mary Jo & All the Wenchly Company