MP-What do you look for in a hero?  Heroine?

KO-I like strong heroes that aren’t jerks.  So many times you see a hero that you have to ask yourself why the heroine loves.  I want a hero that I call in love with as I read the story.

For a heroine, I want someone who is genuinely likable and realistic.  I think women, as a whole, are insecure, so my heroines are generally insecure about something, but they are also easy to like and someone I’d want as a friend.

MP-Do you only write contemporary romance or do you have other genre’s in your WIPS?  

KO-I have written on historical and hope to write many more.  I enjoy reading historicals, and would love to have a bunch more under my belt. 

MP-How do you react to a bad review?  

KO-That’s a hard question.   I react in a lot of different ways.  I try to learn something from each one.  One story, I totally rewrote due to bad reviews, taking into mind what people had told me and have had much better reactions since.  Sometimes I laugh them off, because the people reading are not my audience.  I’ve gotten several bad reviews because people thought my books were Christian romances and there was sex in them.  I never said they were Christian.  It was just an assumption they made.  I can laugh those off.

MP-How do find marketing?  

KO-I honestly don’t do a ton of marketing.  I will respond if someone offers it, but my main marketing is simply putting out the next book.  I think my work should speak for itself.  Generally, if someone finds one of my books, they read them all.  That’s all the marketing I really need.

MP-Since you’re a cub scout leader I’ll have to ask…what’s your favorite scouting song?  

KO-I like Akela’s Trail J

Lily was only six when she met the man she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. When he asked her father for her hand in marriage, he believed the lies her father told him, and immediately left to fight in the war against Napoleon. Once he is finally home again, will he be able to trust Lily again? Or will her father win?
Find Kirsten Osbourne

Amazon

In the car the other night my son asks me what I would do if I sold a million copies of my book.  We've all had that dream to win the Powerball, create the next pet rock or write a bestselling novel.  I wasn't about to go into all the publishing world details or how royalties work.  Instead, since I always expect him to dream big I told him my plans.

First I'd pay all my bills, because I'm too practical not to.  Then I'd get lasik, because I'm vain and would like to wake up and see instead of stumble.  Finally and most importantly I'd take the honeymoon I never got.

See I got married at twenty right after I graduated college.  My handsome boyfriend, now husband, was being scouted by the NFL and we didn't know if or when he was going to be attending a preseason camp.  We figured if he made it a honeymoon would be there for us, if he didn't we could figure out something before our first anniversary.  

But when the first year rolled around my husband was graduating college and starting a full time job.  Year one missed.  As our second anniversary rolled around we had a family member hospitalized so the vacation we had earned in our grown-up jobs was gone.  Year two missed.  Year three was a repeat of year two, except sadly, the family member didn't make it out of the hospital.  Year three missed.  In year three we also had the afore mentioned genius and being that I worked in an emergency room for years and my husband worked with violent sex offenders leaving our son with anyone for more than an hour sent utter fear chasing through our bodies.  Years four through ten missed.  Then came saving for a new house and selling our old house and that brings us up to year fourteen.  

Back to my son who was a little miffed that my first response to his question wasn't to get him the latest basketball shoes.  He asks the question "how much does a honeymoon cost?"  I go into how it varies, but I was looking for an island or European getaway.  Then he says ...

"I don't think it matters where you go, if your with someone you love that's all that matters."

Did I tell you sometimes I really hate that kid.  Yes he's right.  Yes I should be happy that my son knows the important part of a relationship, but I hate smart ass kids that make me look like a moron.  As a romance writer I should know better.  That's the characters we write.  All they want is to be together.  Even if it's just to lock their doors and stay in their beds for a week.  It doesn't matter that it's not a tropical getaway or the City of Love, because love is where you make it.  As long as my husband's by my side then I'm right where I need to be.  

Happy Anniversary Baby ... maybe we'll get there before our fifteen anniversary if not, I'll live.

MP-You write for more than one publisher do you find it hard to keep track of where you are at sometimes?

HT-Most of the time I compartmentalize pretty well, but every now and then I find myself writing in the wrong “tone.”  Although all of my characters are in the same universe, they clump together in cliques like people in real life.   I’m trying to keep each clique in their own little corner, but sometimes I lose track how serious each is supposed to be.

MP-You use humor in your books do you find it’s a good icebreaker for your characters or a crutch for when they are nervous?

HT-Definitely a crutch – I’ve got quite a few characters who use humor as a defense mechanism because they lack better social skills to deal with tricky situations.  I guess I’m projecting somewhat because I’m the same way.

MP-Do you get to write fulltime or do you have a “day job”?

HT-Up until last year I did freelance nonfiction writing.  Now I’m doing the starving artist thing and writing fiction full-time (what is full-time for a fiction writer?  Do we go by words per day or hours?  If I actually wrote eight hours/day and stopped diddling around on the Internet I’d be churning out something like 10,000 words/day.)  I’m not actually starving, by the way.  I’m pretty cheap to maintain so my husband is quietly subsidizing my lifestyle at the moment.

MP-What’s your favorite setting that you use from North Carolina?

HT-Right now I’m working on a novel-length work that’s set in part in an old railroad town called Enfield.  There’s honestly not much going on there, but that actually gives me a plot device to use.  You can do a lot of stuff with empty old buildings.

MP-You also write fantasy books.  Which book genre do you feel gives you the most freedom?

HT-That’s tough. I try to make my fantasy close enough to real life that readers wonder “could that be true?” I take some liberties with physiology or physics, but keep it down to Earth (literally).  I find that although most of my characters utilize colorful language, my fantasy characters tend to be more likely to replace most words in a sentence with a swear word than my romance characters.

Blurb for The Spirit of Things:

Nikki Stacy is a middle school math and science teacher.  To make ends meet she advises her school’s rag-tag cheerleading squad for the extra paycheck supplement.  When the squad’s antics lead to a girl’s injury, Nikki butts heads with squad dad Charlie.  Frustrated, Nikki seeks a job that will really make her happy, but Charlie won’t let her move on without tidying up the loose ends she left behind.

Visit Holley on the web at www.holleytrent.com, 
subscribe to her blog at www.holleytrent.com/blog, 
follow her on twitter and facebook 

            Now for something completely different.

            First I’d like to thank all of you have downloaded, shared or bought Chrysalis.  I appreciate your support and hope you keep supporting Chrysalis by letting people know about it.

            But now I have to juggle.  Juggle between Chrysalis, my sweet love story, to The Frozen, my dark love story.  The Frozen is set for release in two months.  It’s dark, sexy and starts with a demon attack.  Yes, I did better on introducing the paranormal on this one. 

            We know how I love and hate countdowns.  Having a third book coming out in October means that every time I end one I give myself one month to push the latest book then switch to the next.  How else will I distract myself over the next two months?

            Interviews for one, I have my interviewees set for the next four months and that makes me feel good, but now I need to look/read their books to get questions out there.  Then I have editing.  That’s a given. 

            And it’s summer.  While for some summer is a break time for me it’s Boy Scout camping.  Don’t get me wrong I look forward to the tents, bug spray and camp fire skits.  Seeing the boys that have grown so much in the last year and finally just enjoying time away from my computer…but wait.  If you know where to hide at boy scout camp you can find the WiFi areas so never fear, I’ll be around and possibly a little slap happy from the bugs.

            Please join me in the countdown for The Frozen because it’s more fun to do stuff together.  I still want to hear about Chrysalis but be warned over the next few months you’re going to get to see my naughty, dark side.  Hope you enjoy the ride.

Circles Interlocked - Having been betrayed by the man she assumed she was destined to be with forever; Julie Anderson slapped Robert Holiday in an angry ending to their brief love affair. Heartbroken that her love affair didn't end with the fairy tale Happily Ever After, Julie leaves town to pursue her dream of being a dancer. As fate has a curious sense of humor, eight years later, they wake up in bed together. Now it is up to love to fix what time cannot mend.


MP-Do you think that fate will continue to put you in the path of who you should be with?

VA-Interesting question. I am with the man I should be with.  Been married for thirty years this fall.  Fate may have gotten us together but hard work and love has kept us together.

MP-Since Julie gets to slap Robert…who of all your characters have you wanted to slap?

VA-Never wanted to slap a character – too much out of my character – but scold one – that would be Heather. My WIP – Dancing in Circles – is the prequel to Circles Interlocked and in that story, Heather decides to seduce Robert and steal him from Julie.

MP-What’s your favorite genre to read?  Write?

VA-I love mystery stories. I can’t write that genre though.  I tried.  It sounded horrible and the clues were so obvious.  My favourite genre to write is contemporary romances for the 17 to 22 age group.

MP-What’s your favorite type of hero?

VA-I think my character – Robert – would be my favourite type of hero.  He is strong in the physical sense but also his personal make up is strong.  He tries to do the right thing even though he is in a horrible situation. He's compassionate, noble and loyal to his friends and fiercely protective of the woman he loves.

MP-Do you have any upcoming projects?

VA-I am doing the final edits on Dancing in Circles and am hoping that it will be released later this year.  After that, I have a story tumbling around in my head just waiting to be told.

Excerpt---

Five years - Julie hadn't seen or thought about him in all that time, and now in the middle of nowhere, he stood on the beach drying off from a swim. Droplets flew as Robert shook his hair. His black mane was shorter than the last time she saw him. The wet ends dripped water on his bare, muscular shoulders. Tricia, an old high school friend once said he had the body of a male stripper - time hadn't changed that.

She stepped back onto the beach path, transfixed by the sight of the one person she hated. Her repulsion and loathing of him ran so deep; she'd repressed all memories of him. She thought he'd loved her, and had taken a chance, opening up her heart and body to him. But, instead of returning her love, he proved himself worthy of the gutter from which he'd crawled.

Her body said run, but her feet refused to move as she watched a long-legged, svelte, golden blonde rise from the beach chair. She trickled her fingers down his rippled stomach. His voice floated across the sand. It was a calming sound, which had brought a smile to her face when he whispered words of love and passion in her ear.

Details she thought she'd long forgotten surged forward. She remembered the way his dark eyes smoldered with anger and his sly, innocent grin. His joyous laughter had made her feel the abandonment of a child frolicking in the year's first snowfall. She stepped backward onto the path, distancing herself from the lovers as the blonde undid the strings on her bathing suit top, and let it fall to the sand.  Blog – Victoria's pages of Romance 

Circles Interlocked available at
Amazon -  
Smashwords - 

           Yes.  I’ve treated myself and began reading Fifty Shades of Grey.  With books to edit, promote and blogs hither and tither reading is something that I attempt to do and usually don’t find the time.  But I’m a sucker for a good book and I had finished my latest BDB book as well as a few from other Rebel authors. 

            Maybe it’s a trend or I’m focusing too much on the edits of the second book of the Chrysalis series, but the theme of ownership verses belonging seems to be a prevalent. 

            In Lustful Reflections by J.L Oiler you have a woman kidnapped only to have her father betroth her to her abductors.  Now she’s owned by these three men, because in their realm that is how it is.  But she’s does not belong to them.  Not until she accepts them into her heart can she belong to them.

            Belonging makes someone responsible for your heart.  Truly you cannot belong to anyone unless they also belong to you.  It can’t be a simple crush on someone.  That does not mean they are yours.  They have to acknowledge you.  They have to want what’s best for you.  They have to love you.

            In the second book of the Chrysalis series Ellie is struggling with control issues like many teenagers do.  She’s fighting against her parents for freedom.  She fights against Oscar to be the one in control of their relationship.  She’s fighting against a demon who’s twisting her world and making her think she’s losing her mind.

            In future books Ellie will say it took them awhile before she and Oscar realized they didn’t need each other…but they did want each other.

             This is where we return to Fifty Shades and the issue of control.  In romance novels there is always this ebb and flow of overly dramatic romance due to the pull the couple feels for each other.  The overwhelming rush of hormones tempered by some obstacle then the fight to survive it where their love shows its strength. 

            But today we have moved from having a society that one sex dominates over the other to one where both parties are fighting for control.  This fight for control is what destroys the love between the couple.  Why is it so bad to relinquish yourself to someone?  If you can’t let yourself go in the moment you have no trust for that person.  For someone that truly loves you would never abuse what you let them have.  So find someone that’s worthy of controlling you, because they will be the ones that give you the most freedom.

            

Lindsay Downs has stopped by to talk about YA mysteries, intelligent K-9s and an Ice Queen.
MP-You use a collie in your books.  Why that breed?

LD-Several years ago I was working on a book and found it was missing one elements, sort of a comic relief/hero. At the time I had a collie and thought it would be fun to use her, Kebi, in the story. I don’t think I would have included a different breed because I want something that is easily recognizable, friendly and has a natural protectiveness without being vicious. Intelligence was another factor. I feel the collie is one of the most intelligent of the breeds. I’ve seen them herd sheep with only whistle and or shepherd crook visual cues.

MP-What is your favorite genre to write?  Read?

LD-Interestingly, what I write and read are totally different. I write YA-adult sweet contemporary mysteries. Shortly, I will be venturing into the regency romantic suspense genre for a project my publisher is putting together.

For reading my top choice is Regency romances but I’ve been known to read everything from contemporary to Sci-Fi. One of the few genres I don’t read is mystery.

MP-Of all your characters who would you like to punch in the face?

LD-Without a doubt the character would be ‘the brown-haired man’. Neither I nor my muse, Dakota, knows when he’s going to show up in a book until he does.

MP-Tell us more about the “Ice queen”.

LD-Ice Queen started out last year as a story based on the word prompt ‘ice’. I’m with a writing group (Tuesday Tales) and each week we write to a different word. A month or two later I decided to bring her back and over the weeks I’ve developed it into an interesting story line. Sometimes I don’t even know where I will be taking the story but in the end, when I do the BIG reveal, everything will come together into one complete story.

MP-What upcoming projects can we look forward to?

LD-On April 23, 2012 I signed the contract with my publisher, Astraea Press, for Emily Dahill, CID Part 2 so edits are definitely in my future. I’m also writing a story featuring several characters, Thaddeus Dahill and Sasha, from my Christmas story last year. This book will benefit The Pet Fund in helping to defray vet costs. For more information you can go to my blog. As I mentioned above I’m doing a Regency Christmas story for Astraea Press.

So, to say I’m busy is an understatement.

Blurb-

Special Agent Emily Dahill, Dakota along with her team of technicians are sent to Master Sergeant Annabelle Carlyle’s Victorian style house for what they think is a simple break-in. What they find however, turns out to be even more ominous and far reaching.

A secret passageway leads to a mysterious gunshot. When the prime suspect is cleared they still have no clue who the shooter is, or why. Could the shooter be the same individual who took a shot at Dakota?

Add into the mix the FBI and their unexpected involvement in the case.

Soon they learn the break-in had been a cover-up for a more nefarious crime. One that involves Emily’s nemesis, the brown-haired man, and millions of dollars being sent to terrorists.

Will they solve the case before the money disappears forever and more bodies turn up? Not even the inestimable Dakota is sure.

Astraea Press   Amazon   B&N

To request an autograph on your kindle (my author page)

http://kindlegraph.com/authors/ldowns2966

Bio and links-

It was from my parents that I developed a love for books. My father, a medieval scholar, collected the works of Sir Walter Scott with The Lady of the Lake, then and now my favorite. My mother collect Thomas Hardy. No comment on him.

When I was in high school I use to infuriate my English teachers by wanting to write my way, not the way they taught the class. Needless to say, I didn’t quietly rebel and usually won my argument.

Later when I started writing, with a focus toward being published, I remembered what I’d learned in school. All, that is, except for comma’s which I still can’t figure out.

After much trial and a lot of errors I developed my own, I sincerely hope, unique style or voice. Of course, my style now includes writing parts of my books in a POV which threw my editor for a loop until she realized that a collie was the hero of the stories

Blog- Murders and Mysteries

Twitter- Ldowns2966

LinkedIn- Lindsay Downs

Facebook/Author Page- Dakota-Hero

Goodreads- Lindsay Downs

 

Thanks
Michel

            Why is it in romances we limit ourselves?  We look at the traditional story lines of “the girl next door” or “the stud in school”, but we rarely venture outside our own race.  Sure we’ll sleep with a vampire or werewolf.  Some people even have no problem with an elf, (Orlando Bloom the restraining order was a little much all I wanted was you in a blond wig with bow and arrow, clothing optional).   But lets face it, in modern romances we still consider even black and white to be edgy.

            In The Frozen I have people of all nations, who because of they work for Gabriel and can be dropped anywhere in the world, find that love can be found anywhere. 

            You start with the main love interest of Kiri and Nye.  Kiri, white Southern California girl from the twentieth century and Nye a black former slave from the eighteen hundreds who has scars on his back to prove he knows not to cross racial lines.

            But that’s just on love story in the book.  Inside the home of The Frozen are many demon hunters that found love on assignment.  Lars, a Swedish soldier, fell for Zarmina when he was in the Middle East in the early eighteen hundreds.  Zarmina was set to marry into a traditional arranged marriage when she ran across Lars who stole her heart. 

            Then Dilana who is from what is now the Balkan States who ends up being saved from herself by a man from northern Japan.  Kiyoshi had to make many sacrifices to be the woman he’d fallen for.

            It’s not that I’m against two people from the same race falling in love, because the in the second book in The Frozen series that’s what happened because Trisha is the beautiful woman that showed up for Schmitty.  I’m just asking why is it still taboo to cross that line.  Is it the last forbidden fruit?  If so can I please have a fruit salad, because we never limit our characters when it comes to wealth, intelligence or ninja skills, but we are still limiting who they are attracted too.  And the little people in my head want no limits on love.

MP-You are published under three houses.  Did you do that for more exposure?  Or the type of books?  Or basic contract amounts?

ZA-Mostly it was because those stories are from such different genres/ I wouldn’t necessarily have found one place for everything. Plus/ I do like the idea of playing to different types of audiences. My work for Wicked East Press has been geared more towards horror and anthology lovers/  my story with Rebel Ink Press is about an astral/telepathic erotic encounter/ and my stories with No Boundaries Press are contemporary pieces that don’t quite fit into a certain mold. I like having variety in my writing and I think it’s a good thing that different sorts of people can discover me in different ways.

MP-You say you like to work through emotions in books.  Do your characters stay focused on one problem or do they try to tackle multiple problems?
ZA-It depends/ honestly. I think a lot of my stories so far have one or two major themes or problems within each work/ but the emotions involved are at various levels and nuances – at least I hope that’s the case. In The Inheritance the character of Kaylee isn’t just watching her father die; she has to work through her mixed feelings on how he treated her as a child/ plus she really wants to prove herself to him and get one up on him but it’s all tangled together with guilt and love at the same time.  In my story  Monster the protagonist Vivien is dealing with growing older and remembering how Halloween used to be/ which feeds into the general theme of how kids have become more desensitized the more modern and politically correct the world tries to get. Power Chord is more straight forward; Drake acts mainly out of boredom and his daydreams suddenly give him a run for his money and turn into something that he doesn’t expect. There’s hints of other things going on: he’s gone through a process of maturing/ he’s burnt out/ and his interests and turn-ons might be a gateway for someone else to enter into his world/ but it’s much more plot-driven as opposed to a release I have in July that deals with coming of age/ small town repression/ religious views/ romantic awakening…there’s a lot going on in that one in a small amount of time.  I find that a lot of my characters are trying to get comfortable with themselves but to do that they have to accept or go through a certain amount of discomfort/ first.

I do believe that emotions aren’t one level. There are a lot of little things that make up real love: for all the romantic or kind moments there’s irritation and frustration there/ too. Growing older brings confidence as well as fear. A lot of times a character or person’s  views on the world around them actually give a big hint as to how they feel about themselves/ and those are the things I like to play with/ especially if it takes the plot in an unexpected direction or brings to light things that may not always be directly talked about.

MP-How important is music in storytelling?

ZA-I think it’s very important. Stories have their own rhythms/ crescendos/ and decrescendos just like music and really good songs tell their own abbreviated stories. The only difference is that songs work with moments and are usually more specific in a faster amount of time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a song like Pour Some Sugar on Me or something more narrative like Free Falling; there are stories going on in both/ both are telling their own sort of tale.  Everyone relates to some sort of music and I personally love it when songs are mentioned or even alluded to in stories. In The Haunting of Hill House the character of Eleanor is obsessed with this old song that borrows from Shakespeare – a love song – but it’s used to show her growing madness and obsession and it makes the whole story so much creepier. In film a really good soundtrack helps propel the script along and fill in the blanks/ especially during montages. For me/ music and storytelling go hand in hand.

MP-How have you found marketing?


ZA-I’m still getting used to it. I knew I was going to have to be very forward-momentum about it/ and I am/ but it’s definitely something that gets easier the more you do it. I always feel like I’m falling behind or not doing enough but then I realize that I haven’t been at it that long and need to just keep taking things one step at a time. One thing I really love about marketing/ though/ is the chance to talk to other authors/ bloggers/ readers and the like. Getting to meet so many people and get their opinions on things is fabulous. I’m headstrong about my opinions/ but I’m always open to being proven wrong if it’s going to help me grow. I don’t know what I was expecting but I was surprised that there are a lot of people who are willing to help promote me or give me ideas and the like/ and in turn that gives me opportunities to help them or pass their names on to others. Plus/ it’s just great to be able to talk and knock around ideas or see how others interpret what I’m doing; I love that.

MP-What’s your favorite genre?

ZA-Oh/ man – I love so many different genres; it’s so hard to choose! I do have a weakness for the paranormal so I tend to really like horror and dark fantasy/ as well as urban fantasy and paranormal romance. And I love a good historic romance/ especially if it’s western. 
Drake has gotten used to having things his way – he makes the decisions whether it be recording his music, on the road while touring, or in bed. He may be somewhat older than when he first started, but he can still pack venues and still has fans at his mercy. But while professional success brings about one type of satisfaction, there’s a certain type that he just can’t seem to reach one dull night after a show. He doesn’t party hard anymore – he knows better – but that doesn’t mean he can’t indulge in a dirty fantasy all his own. What would it be like to have ultimate power, to be able to shed the confines of his body and sneak up on the unsuspecting by way of astral travel? What would it be like to seduce a woman when she can’t see him, can only feel him when he wants her to?  And what happens when he’s not the only one who appreciates good music and is turned on by the power of control?

Zillah can be found in the following places:

Blog:
Facebook:
Facebook author page:
Twitter:


 

            It amazes me that people have become accustom to not being rejected.  They see it as some great smack against them as a person if they are.  There are many reasons why we get rejected.  There are the superfacial.  Big butt, wrong color hair, mole the size of Alaska that you refuse to get removed because some idiot told you it was beauty mark when you were twelve…hint…lady…when hair’s growing out of it and it’s not flat to your face it could be cancer.

            Then we have the economical.  The whole not enough demand to control the supply.  A switch in the market.  For us authors e-books have actually made the big six publishing houses pull back from new authors because they are still seeing how it all shakes down.  Then you have indie publishers that are able to actually take more chances on new authors because they have lack of product sitting on shelves that they have to put initial costs out for.  But indie publishers are also going to start with smaller niche markets that your book might not fall into.

            Then there are the people that just don’t get you.  That doesn’t mean that you are a bad person or did some horrible thing.  It could be that some one named Carrie wronged them when they were young so all girls named Carrie get an autoreject email.  Who knows?  But if they don’t “get you” why would you want them editing your book?  Or trying to publish it?  They would be horrible at marketing and could even turn people away.  You want someone who loves your book at least half as much as you.

            Beyond that, rejection is a normal process.  Ever since books began being published by houses you had rejection.  There is a cost involved and time investment that not every house can afford.  I sometimes wonder if my house knew how many emails I could generate in a day when they signed me…luckily they didn’t so that contract makes them have to at least open the emails.

            But rejections happen.  I love that Stephanie Meyer talks about her twelve rejection letters and how she was ready to give up when she got an agent in the thirteenth letter. 

            Really?  Twelve rejections?  Seriously?  Okay lets look at the woman who wrote The Help by Kathryn Stockett, she had seventy-five rejection letters.  Now lets look at Sherryln Kenyon (one of my heroes) she was rejected for over ten years.  She was even rejected from a creative writing program because they were only admitting people that had potential.  As someone who’s had a New York Times best seller every month for the past six or seven years, do you think that selection committee ever regrets that rejection?  Who cares?  If they wouldn’t have rejected her she wouldn’t be where she is now.

            Then you come to me.  Thanks to the ease of email I estimate I’ve received over one hundred and fifty rejections.  Two so far have come months after I signed my contract, because they were behind in reviewing query letters.  And by behind we’re talking over nine months.

            Finally Jack London.  He got rejected in the time of snail mail and sending full manuscripts to publishing houses.  Now considered one of the great voices in American literature, Jack received over four hundred rejections.

            Don’t fear rejection.  Embrace it.  Love it.  Eat a pan of brownies and work to improve.  Look for agents and publishing houses telling you what they want to see in a query and tweak yours to fit them.  Just never compromise your book for them.  And if it’s not for them it’s not because it’s bad, it’s because it’s not for them.  But someone out there may love your book.  Just like your soul mate, it’s about timing.  Don’t settle for who comes first, find the perfect fit for you.