Alina Adams

My first book, "The Fictitious Marquis," came out in June of 1995. Twenty years later, I figure it's time to shake things up a little. For 20 years, I've heard lots of advice about how to become a successful author. I am now about to throw it all out the window. #1) Never let anyone see anything but your very, very best work. After 20 years and over a dozen published books, I am writing my next romance novel live online at: www.AlinaAdams.com/live. Readers can follow along with my every key-stroke, see my typos, my mistakes, my clunky prose and my plot dead ends that I delete the next day. They can watch me edit, and they can offer their own suggestions. Along the way, I hope everyone gets a better idea of what it's like to write a book from start to finish. (It's not magic, and it's not divine inspiration. It's simply hard work, even on days when you don't feel like it. Especially on days when you don't feel like it.) #2) Stick to one genre so you can build an audience. I've written romance novels, figure skating mysteries, family sagas, and now a non-fiction book about the trials and tribulations of getting into Kindergarten in NYC. (It costs $9.99 and is geared for all those parents who can't afford a $10,000 private consultant. Yes, people do hire them. To get their kids into Kindergarten.) #3) Don't try anything too radical that readers won't understand. A few years ago, I took my traditionally published figure-skating mystery novels and turned them into enhanced ebooks, with video from the Ice Theatre of NY embedded alongside the story. People still aren't sure what to make of them. Think of it as a book and movie in one. Why just read about figure-skating, after all, when you can actually see the routines described! How will all this rule-breaking turn out? I don't know... you tell me!