Betsy Horvath

Blog

  • Release Week Reflections

    As you may have guessed from this blog post, release week made me a little manic. There has just been so much to do, so many people to talk to, so many comments to be made and answered. I actually felt my heart palpitating at work one day when the stress of the day job met the stress of the release. So I decided it was time to stop, sit down, and reflect on things a little bit.

    Carina Press acquired my manuscript in September 2010. The manuscript was released on September 5, 2011. That’s a pretty long time in ebook land. In a lot of ways, it was good to have the interval between acceptance and publication. It gave me time to get set up and established on various social media sites. It gave me time to set up my blog and start blogging regularly. It gave me time to finally get high speed internet. Most importantly, it gave me time to get to know many wonderful authors, as well as the terrific people at Carina Press and Harlequin. I’m so glad I had the year to get set up and running.

    The problem with having so much time, however, is that it gave me time to think.  I’m soooo dangerous when I have time to think.

    I watched what the other authors were doing, and decided that I would try to do that too. I looked at what authors I have followed did, and decided I would do that too. I thought about what people did that made me want to buy their books, and decided I would do that too.

    Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

    I think I did some things pretty well, and I think I did some things not so well. I found out that running a contest is harder than you think – especially when you don’t have a lot of traffic on your blog and your first book isn’t out. I found out that a month-long countdown is wonderful, but a lot of work. I found out that there are wonderful people on Twitter and Facebook and eHarlequin and elsewhere in the blogosphere who support you and are rooting for you.

    At the beginning of August, I decided that I was just going to have fun with it all, I was going to enjoy the roller coaster ride of the last weeks leading up to release.  And I was able to keep it fun.  For the most part anyway.

    But towards the end of August, and especially the week the book released, I became truly insane. There are so many fleeting opportunities for a new, and newly released author. I’ve been feeling that if I miss a chance it will never come my way again. Plus now there are rankings and reviews and positioning and promotions to think about. That’s a lot of pressure.

    After I had my heart palpitations, it occurred to me that this was not a good way to be. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to do the best I can. I’m going to have fun. And I’m not going to look at my Amazon rankings. I’m going to try not to read all of the reviews.  I have to believe that if I do the best I can and have fun, some people will buy my book. Then I hope most of them enjoy it.

    Besides, I should probably spend the time writing something else 😀

     

  • Remembering

    It seems to me that today is not the day for a funny, chatty little blog post.

    Today is a day to remember all of the people lost on 9/11/01.  It’s a day to remember the people around the world who lost their lives to terrorism before that terrible day.  It’s a day to remember all of the people, both in the international armed forces community and civilians, who lost their lives or sacrificed their health and well-being in its aftermath.

    For those of us who are old enough, today is a day to remember where we were on 9/11/01. To remember how we felt – the horror, the shock, the fear. Because when we remember where we were and how we felt, we are connected to everyone who is also remembering and they are connected to us.  That connection is what makes us human.

    And finally, today is a day to think about the last 10 years in our own lives. Where we’ve been.  Where we’re going. What have we, the people who did not die in the World Trade Center, accomplished?  What have we done with our gift of life?

    So, it seems to me that today is a day to remember and to love, to look forward and to look back.

     

    The Harvest Bow

    by Seamus Heaney

     

    As you plaited the harvest bow
    You implicated the mellowed silence in you
    In wheat that does not rust
    But brightens as it tightens twist by twist
    Into a knowable corona,
    A throwaway love-knot of straw.

    Hands that aged round ashplants and cane sticks
    And lapped the spurs on a lifetime of game cocks
    Harked to their gift and worked with fine intent
    Until your fingers moved somnambulant:
    I tell and finger it like braille,
    Gleaning the unsaid off the palpable,

    And if I spy into its golden loops
    I see us walk between the railway slopes
    Into an evening of long grass and midges,
    Blue smoke straight up, old beds and ploughs in hedges,
    An auction notice on an outhouse wall–
    You with a harvest bow in your lapel,

    Me with the fishing rod, already homesick
    For the big lift of these evenings, as your stick
    Whacking the tips off weeds and bushes
    Beats out of time, and beats, but flushes
    Nothing: that original townland
    Still tongue-tied in the straw tied by your hand.

    The end of art is peace
    Could be the motto of this frail device
    That I have pinned up on our deal dresser–
    Like a drawn snare
    Slipped lately by the spirit of the corn
    Yet burnished by its passage, and still warm.

  • Busy, Busy

    And then I have to…

    Betsy!

    But first I should retweet…and then I have to comment on…

    Yo, Betsy!

    Oh!  Oh!  I can’t forget to post…

    BETSY!

    What!?!  Oh. It’s you.  Hello, Blogosphere.

    Were you just going to ignore me?

    Ignore you?  Ignore you?  How the heck can I ignore you?

    Well, it’s just that–

    I mean, I’m on the freaking computer all of the freaking time!  I’m talking to some part of you every spare moment of the day!  Twitter.  Facebook.  Google+…

    Yeah, don’t worry too much about Google+

    I don’t. Where was I?  Oh, yeah.  Goodreads.  eHarlequin…

    That eHarlequin part of me is pretty nice, isn’t it?

    …other people’s blogs.  My blog posts.  My guest blog posts.  Answering comments on my guest blog posts… AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

    Whoa. ::gestures soothingly:: Just calm down.

    Calm down?  Calm down?  How the heck am I supposed to calm down?  I’m on my laptop.  I’m on my netbook.  I’m on my smart phone.  I’d be using tin-cans if that got me in touch with a different part of you… I”m…I’m…just….

    Betsy.  Bets.  Here.  ::takes arm:: Come with me.

    Where…where did this sofa come from…?

    I stole it from the Ikea site.

    Oh.  Pretty.

    Yeah.  Just lie down.  Relax.

    ::lays down::  Thank you, Blogosphere.

    See?  I’m not so bad.

    No…no, you’re nice.  You…care.

    Well, not really.  But you’re not going to do either of us any favors if you stroke out.

    Okay.

    Listen.  The damn book’s not going away, what’s the rush?

    What’s the rush? ::struggles to sit up:: What’s the rush? I need to sell books!  There are rankings and reviews and all sorts of promotional opportunities and I have to be out there and if I don’t sell books I’m going to die alone with a hundred cats who will eat my flesh when they run out of food!

    Nice image.

    I know how you are, Blogosphere.  I know how unforgiving you are.  Today, I’m a newly released author.  Today I’m on blogs and Books on Board and the Carina site.  Tomorrow I’ll be…the ugly wedding hat.

    I see you have a good handle on how things work.  But you’re forgetting something.

    ::sniffles::  What?

    You’ll always have this little corner of me, no matter what.

    That’s…true…

    As long as you have enough money to pay the hosting bills.

    AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

     

  • RELEASE DAY!


     
     It’s Release Day!

     
     

    HOLD ME

    by Betsy Horvath

     
     

    Available NOW at:

    CARINA PRESS
    AMAZON
    BARNES AND NOBLE
    BOOKS ON BOARD

    And anywhere fine ebooks are sold.

     

    Wow.

  • HOLD ME Countdown – Bonus Story: Sisters (and some blog tour info)

     

    1 Day to Release Day!!!!

     

    Can you even believe it?  HOLD ME is being released into the wild TOMORROW, 9/5/11.  It’s rather appropriate that my book is released on Labor Day, because it has been such a labor of love from start to finish.  It has also been like birthing a big giant baby elephant.  I am very excited.  And happy to see it roaming free.

    I’m also excited to tell you that starting tomorrow I’ll be on a wee bit of a blog tour.  Perhaps it is not a big blog tour by some author’s standards, but it’s big to me.  Here’s the info:

    9/5     I’ll be at RR@H Novel Thoughts and Book Reviews talking about why I love Romantic Suspense

    9/6    I’m being interviewed by the awesome and lovely Maureen Miller on her blog. Chaos is sure to ensure.

    9/7   I am guest blogging at the equally awesome and lovely Leah Braemel’s blog, talking about characters coming alive in my mind.  It’s very scary.

    9/8   I’ll be on the Carina Press blog with my friend, Lucas Vasco talking about his books.

    9/12  I’ll be at Not Your Usual Suspects talking about Pantsers versus Plotters.

    9/30   I’m guest blogging on Everybody Needs A Little Romance talking about…something.

    10/3  I’ll be at Attacking the Page with a post having to do with writing a car chase.

     

    Oh, what an exciting and busy month!  I hope you’ll stay with me for the ride.

    To celebrate the Day Before Release Day, I’m posting another bonus short story.  Well, this one is more like a bonus vignette.  As before, there may be hints and teases, but I’ve tried to stay away from any actual spoilers.  I hope you enjoy “Sisters”.

    And I’ll see you tomorrow!  WHEEE!
     

    Sisters (PDF)

     
     
     

  • HOLD ME Countdown – An Interview With Katie McCabe

    4 Days to Release Day!

     

     

    Having had mixed results with Luc’s interview, I decided to move on to Katie.

    Katie McCabe, as you may or may not know, is the heroine of my book, HOLD ME. I met Katie at a small diner in New Jersey a couple of blocks from the office building where she now works. I got there first, so I was watching for her when she walked in. Oh, it was so good to see her again! She looked beautiful with her exuberant wine-red hair curling all over the place in the humidity.

    She saw me, ran over, and we hugged. Her purse swung around and hit me in the back. The bruise is fading now.

    After a moment, we slid into opposite sides of the booth. The waitress came, we placed our orders, and then smiled at each other.

    “You look great,” I told her. It was true. She looked happy.

    “Nah.” She blushed a little, and her blue eyes twinkled behind her glasses. “I’m just normal. Plus it’s humid.” She tugged at her hair, and I laughed.

    “Tell me about it.” I tugged at my own hair. “So how’s everything going?”

    “Wonderful.” She smiled, and her eyes went a little dreamy. I laughed at her again.

    “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

    “I can’t. It’s attached to my body.” Now she giggled. “But everything is…very nice.”

    “Good.” The waitress brought our coffee, so we paused while she placed the mugs on the table.  “Thanks for letting me interview you,” I said.

    She shrugged. “Sure.  Besides, you’re buying lunch.”

    “Like I told Luc, I want to try to keep this out of spoiler territory.”

    “Oh, yeah.” Her expression was mischievous. “How’d the big Luc interview go?”

    “He’s a dumbass,” I muttered, pouring cream into my coffee. “And a jerkwad.”  I stirred with more force than was strictly necessary.

    Katie nodded. “That he is.  But then again, you wrote him.”

    “Do you know that he wants chickens?” I demanded. “Chickens! What is he thinking!”

    “Hey, that’s your fault. You’re the one who put out the story about him finding Spot and reminded him of his unrequited chicken love.”

    “Yeah, well, I didn’t think he’d actually do anything about it.”

    “And that is the only reason I’m still talking to you.” She looked at me sternly. “Just who do you think is going to be stuck playing chicken wrangler? You know as well as I do that as soon as he gets the bloody things he’ll be too busy to take care of them.”

    “Sorry.” I sighed. “I’ll try to talk him out of it.”

    “Please do.” Katie sounded fervent. She sipped her coffee. “So, what are we going to talk about that’s not a spoiler?”

    “I don’t know. It’s the same problem I had with Luc.  Do you know that he accused me of shooting him?”

    “Well, um, you kind of did.”

    “I did not!”  I had expected understanding from Katie.  “The only thing I did was–”

    She waved her hands in my face.  “I think you want to stop now. Spoilers, remember?”

    “Oh, yeah. Right.”  I took a deep breath and tried to get myself back under control.

    “Um, maybe you shouldn’t have interviewed us until after the book was out?”

    “Oh, shut up.” I was feeling a little cranky. “I didn’t think about it, okay?”

    She just laughed at me.

    “Do you like your new job?” I asked, because it was a safe topic, and because I wanted to know.

    “Oh, yeah.” Her face lit up. “David Allen told me about the opening. Sometimes I think that man knows everyone.”

    I shook my head fondly. “He’s just like his mother.”

    “He’s getting there, but Mama Allen is the goddess of networking. Do you know that she and Mr. Allen went to Boston for a vacation and she saw three people she knew? The woman’s amazing.”

    “I bet she gets along great with your mother,” I said. “How is Maureen anyway?”

    Katie held up a finger. “Spoiler territory.”

    “Oh, yeah.”

    We stared at each other for a moment.

    “I really can’t think of anything to ask you that won’t be some kind of a spoiler,” I admitted.

    “We could just eat lunch…”

    “That won’t make a very interesting blog post.”

    “True.” She shoved her glasses up her nose. I shoved my glasses up my nose. We stared at each other some more.

    “Um, how’s Melanie?” I asked.

    “Spoiler.”

    “Your father?”

    “Spoiler.”

    “Brenna?”

    “Brenna’s great.” Katie grinned. “She thinks she doesn’t have any pheromones.”

    “I think that might be a spoiler for a future book.”

    “Well how the heck should I know? You don’t have them plotted out yet.”

    “Yeah.”

    Silence.

    “So, I guess this interview is over?” Katie asked finally.

    “I do have one question,” I said.

    “Shoot.”

    “Is your name still “Katie McCabe”?”

    Katie smiled, and it looked almost feline. I half expected to hear her purr.

    “Spoiler,” she said.