Author: Gina Wilkins

The back to school ads playing constantly on TV and showing up in my newspaper remind me that yet another summer is drawing to a close. My son begins his third year of college in two weeks. Football season starts at the end of the month. Time really does fly when you’re having fun — as were these summer-loving families recently at Little Rock’s Peabody Park in the fun River Market District.

It’s been an odd summer, weather-wise. Usually bone-dry and viciously hot, Little Rock had a near-record rainfall this July and the temperatures were generally lower than normal, though they’ve climbed back into the upper 90s for the beginning of August. My daughter in the Pacific Northwest — where most apartments, including her own, are not air conditioned — suffered through record-breaking heat for the past couple of weeks, while my daughter in New England shivered in cool July mornings as she reported to work. My heart goes out to the people in Louisville, Kentucky after I watched the news coverage today of a destructive flood. Thousands of books were destroyed in their flooded libraries — which, of course, hurts my book-loving soul.

Despite  the crazy weather, I hope you enjoy your remaining weeks of summer. This is a great time to curl up in a hammock or on a beach or in front of a fan or air conditioner with a good book. Which seems like a cue to insert a little blatant self promotion and remind you that DIAGNOSIS: DADDY, the first in my Doctors in Training series, is on the shelves now wherever paperback romances are sold!

There are lots of great books out there — romance, mystery, thrillers, sci-fi, literary fiction, non-fiction … pop into a bookstore or library while you’re doing your back-to-school shopping and treat yourself to a vacation between the covers.

Enter now!

I’m already receiving entries for this month’s giveaway of two connected paperback books, THE GROOM’S STAND-IN and THE BEST MAN’S PLAN. The drawing will be held on September 1. Click the Enter to Win! tab above for details.

The winner of the August 1 drawing for an autographed, hardcover, larger-print edition of LOVE LESSONS is Theresa Beers of California! Congratulations, Theresa. I’ll get that in the mail to you ASAP.

The prize for September is a set of two connected books, THE GROOM’S STAND-IN and THE BEST MAN’S PLAN. For details, click on the Enter to Win! tab above.

Remember, I destroy all entries at the end of the month, so you’ll have to enter again to be eligible for the new drawing. Everyone is eligible except immediate family and the past month’s winner.

When our daughter, Kerry, entered medical school five years ago this month, my husband and I knew it would be a difficult journey for her. Our older daughter was already deeply entrenched in graduate school, working toward her doctorate in microbiology, and we saw how difficult that was, so we thought we understood what medical school would be like. It turns out it was totally different. Not harder, per se, and certainly not easier than graduate school — but still overwhelmingly difficult, stressful and time consuming.

At Kerry’s orientation, we were a little taken aback to hear speeches from counselors about suicide and substance abuse prevention. Three upperclassmen gave talks about how difficult their studies had been, the havoc it had played on their relationships with friends and families, and how close they came to quitting. Kerry started looking a little nervous about what she’d gotten herself into. Watching her during the next four years as she suffered defeats and celebrated victories, as she tried to maintain her relationships with her family, her former friends, her new friends and the boyfriend who would become her husband after her second year, we were awed by her resilience and determination, and so proud of her when she finally held that diploma in her hands.

My family has long resigned themselves to being fair game when it comes to ideas for my books. They’ve even told me a few times, “Please don’t write this into your next story.” With Courtney’s assistance, I’ve written a couple of books about scientists and the frustrations of grad school and research. Now it was Kerry’s turn to provide me with inspiration.

I came up with the idea of a group of slightly-older students who bond together in a study group during their first year of school and remain friends throughout their training. I conceived of four books, each taking place during one of the years of medical school, and each telling the story of a romance for a member (or two) of the group, and the obstacles that medical school creates in addition to the usual challenges of a new relationship. My editor liked the idea.

DIAGNOSIS: DADDY is the first of those four books. An August release, it will be available for sale this week, wherever Silhouette Special Editions are sold, or through eHarlequin.com.

Connor Hayes is the first “hero” in the study group. Already stressed by the unexpected difficulty of his first year of classes, he is staggered when he finds himself responsible for the six-year-old daughter he never knew he had. His first reaction is that he will have to quit medical school to care for his daughter. That’s when his best friend and former coworker, Mia Doyle, steps in with a proposition: she’ll move in to serve as nanny to his daughter if he’ll let her live there rent-free so she can save money for her own post-graduate education. It seems like the perfect solution … until complications arise when both Mia and Connor find themselves growing too close for comfort in his little house. Can he find time to be a parent and a partner? And is Mia prepared to take on this ready-made family and possibly jeopardize her own long-planned future?

I’m thoroughly enjoying writing this series. Book two is already written (PRIVATE PARTNERS, available February, 2010) and I’m just getting started on book three (tentatively titled HEALING TOUCH). The best part about working on this series? All the input and suggestions from my daughter, now Dr. Kerry. She’s been so very helpful in reading the drafts and making sure I’m getting the facts straight (with a little leeway for fictional purposes, of course), just as Dr. Courtney did when I wrote about scientists (and I always reserve the right to utilize them again!).

My career has long been a family affair, since the girls hardly remember when I sold my first book and my son wasn’t born until after I was published. My husband is accustomed to being a sounding board, and to doing the cooking or eating sandwiches during deadline crunches, and my son is increasingly handy for consulting about computer issues. Even my very intelligent son-in-law is fair game — I have a feeling I’ll pick his brain soon for a future book. I am so grateful for my family — I don’t know what I would do without any of them.

LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES!

The drawing for the hardcover release of LOVE LESSONS will be on August 1. All entries must be received by July 31. Click on the “Enter to Win!” tab above for details. Good luck!

I’ve been asked to speak quite often since I’ve been published. Groups of aspiring writers, book clubs, civic organizations — even a garden club, once, though I can kill a silk plant. I’ve long since lost count of how many speeches I’ve made. I was rather nervous the first few times, but I’ve grown more comfortable with practice. I actually enjoy talking about my career and my experiences as a writer, and my “reviews” have been very positive. It has become one of my favorite sidelines of my career.

Most frequently, I have spoken to schoolchildren — from kindergarten to senior high. It almost seemed that teachers started calling me the day after I sold my first book, asking me to speak at career days and in English classes and at assemblies. (I didn’t speak at the school pictured above; I snapped that photo of an end-of-the-term celebration during a recent road trip through Massachusetts because I thought it was a lovely school setting). I’ve had a lot of fun talking to students — depending on their age, we play word games, make up stories, talk about the importance of literacy and goal-setting, and go through the progress of a book from idea to publication.

I don’t remember all the talks I’ve made to students, but some of them stand out in my memory. Like the time I recklessly agreed to speak to all of a teacher’s English classes for the day — 6 or 7 classes, I think. That was early in my speaking days, and it gave me an all-new appreciation for teachers. Speaking that many times in one day was exhausting, and I’ve never agreed to do it since. By the end of the day, I couldn’t remember what I’d said to which class, and I was having trouble keeping up my enthusiasm. I admire the excellent and committed teachers who are as invested in their late-afternoon classes as they are in the mornings. Now, I ask that classes be combined so that I speak no more than twice in one appearance.

I was delighted to speak at an eighth-grade graduation program at my own junior high school several years ago, being introduced by one of my favorite junior high English teachers. And there was the time I spoke to an entire school — k through 12 — in a little Arkansas town called Leslie. It was a very small school, entire grades made up of less than fifty students, as I recall — and I spoke in the gym while they sat in the bleachers. It was the only time I was ever applauded for anything I did in a gymnasium (let’s just say I’ve never been athletically inclined).

I love it when the teachers have their students write thank you notes after my speeches and then forward them to me. I’ve received some delightful ones through the years — I’ll do a post soon quoting some of the more amusing and touching ones. I always try to leave time for questions after my talks, and there have been some doozies (not only from schoolchildren, I’ve gotten some, er, interesting questions from adult audiences, as well). One of my favorite questions came from an eighth grader. I had just explained that my books are published in twenty different languages in over 100 countries, when a boy’s hand shot up.

“You speak 20 different languages?” he asked in amazement.

“Well, no. I’m afraid I speak only English, though I wish I knew some other languages.”

Looking no less impressed, he shook his head. “I think it’s awesome that you can write in all those languages you don’t even speak,” he said.

Needless to say, while his teacher put her head on her desk, I immediately veered into a discussion about the career of translator.

I often wonder if any of the schoolkids I’ve spoken to remember my speeches all these years later. If they received any inspiration from my story to work hard and follow their own dreams. I hope they remember. They have certainly inspired me.

Reminder:

A few entries have come in for this month’s give-away of the hardcover, larger print copy of LOVE LESSONS. You still have until July 31 to send me your name for the drawing. Your odds are still good! Click on the “Enter to Win” tab above for details.

I do not remember a time when I didn’t want to be a published writer. From the time I was a child, all I wanted to do was to entertain readers with my stories. Even while pursuing a degree in journalism, I knew I wanted to write fiction — especially the romance stories I’d enjoyed for so long.

I found the courage to submit my first book to a publisher when I was in my mid-twenties. I’ve joked since that the manuscript was returned in the next day’s mail, along with a rejection letter. The rejection letter didn’t even have my name on it. Just, “Dear author.” Ouch.

I still had a lot to learn about writing for publication. So, I wrote and submitted another book. And received another form letter rejection.

Through hard experience, I’ve learned since that rejection is very much a part of this business. It takes a thick skin to deal with that, and with revisions, and with critics — but for those of us with the writing addiction, those drawbacks can’t deter us. I had to keep trying.

Back then, I didn’t know any other writers, and there was no internet to connect me with support groups and professional organizations. So, I went to the library and started teaching myself as much as I could learn about the business. I learned how to write a query letter, how to request “tip sheets” from the publishers regarding their submission requirements, how to target my writing toward specific lines (I didn’t even know that each line had required word counts).  And, because I’ve never been very good at marketing myself, I decided I needed an agent.

I selected Denise Marcil in New York after reading an article she had written for aspiring writers. She sounded like someone I would like. I mailed her a query letter, telling her about the latest story I’d written and asking her to represent me. She saw something promising in my writing, and she agreed to sign me. I was so naive then that I had no idea how hard it is to get an agent, how atypical it was for me to sign with the first one I contacted. I was very lucky that she happened to be a reputable and well-respected professional; there are many unscrupulous and less than competent “agents” out there trying to cash in on the big dreams of others.

Denise and I began our partnership in June of 1985. We’ve been together ever since — another rarity in this business in which most authors work with several agents during their careers. Denise taught me so much about the publishing business. I know she was exasperated at times with my total lack of education about the industry. She suggested I join a writers’ group, which led to my becoming a member of a local club and Romance Writers of America, both of which led to friendships I maintain to this day. And she was the one who called me to tell me of my first sale to Harlequin in 1986.

My agent has been my advocate, my adviser, my sounding board — and most of all, my friend. We’ve seen each other rarely during our long association, but we’ve talked often and easily. She celebrates every sale with me. She sent flowers after the birth of my son in 1988, and helped rearrange all my deadlines when my daughter was in ICU in 2000. She fought for me when I was plagiarized. She grieved with me when I lost my mother.

It’s been an interesting and sometimes frustrating journey. I’m very lucky to have had her on my side. I hope we celebrate many more milestones together.

Enter to win!

There have been no entries as of yet in this month’s contest. Is everyone waiting until the end of the month to enter? I’ll draw the winner on August 1 — and if you’re the only entry, you’ll be guaranteed to win! So click the “Enter to Win” tab above for directions on how to submit your name.