Author Guest Post: Bethany Ramos

Earlier this week I reviewed 5 Stages of Grief by Bethany Ramos as part of the CLP Blog Tour (you can read my review here). Bethany was kind enough to write a guest post for Books Etc. I hope you all enjoy it!

Can a Ghostwriter Make It as a Novelist? How to Create Instant Street Cred as an Author

If you have always had a dream of writing a novel - as so many people profess to have - the best way to get your foot in the door in the world of writing is to establish an online presence. 

Develop Your Writing Credentials 
I have worked as a freelance writer/ghostwriter on Elance.com for a little over three years. In this transition into the writing world, it didn’t mean instant success for me. It did mean hard work, a willingness to take on less than desirable projects, and having a good work ethic to get my name out there. All of those factors are pretty much no-brainers when it comes to how to succeed in the career of your choice, and it shouldn’t be any different for a writer. 
If you do have a dream of writing a novel, I encourage you to start out with a job in the writing world. This gives you a bit of street cred when you shop your work out to agents, so that you aren’t just another writer in a sea of writers with brilliant ideas. 
The truth is that anyone can have a brilliant idea. But you have to be willing to do the hard work years in advance to make your idea have weight and seem attractive to the right agents and editors. 


Start Your Own Blog
If you are passionate about a particular topic, whatever it may be, start a blog right away. But don’t stop there. Anyone can create a blog for free, but it takes a person who is committed to writing to post on the blog several times a week - especially when you aren’t getting any comments. 
I currently have a chick lit review blog at http://chicklit-books.com/. I started this blog to support my chick lit writing career and to give agents and editors more information when they Googled me. I make a habit of posting to this blog several times a week, rain or shine. 
But the purpose of this blog isn’t to gain popularity and get me noticed as a chick lit reviewer, although that would be nice. The purpose of this blog is to support the work that I have already done and show any interested editors that I am committed as a writer. 
So, whatever genre, topic, or interest you may be passionate about, blog on it regularly. This is not only a great way to exercise your writing muscles, but it will create a Google trail with your name on it. The next time that you submit your manuscript, and a literary agent decides to do their homework on you, they will find a fully functioning blog with fresh posts to support your writing credentials. 
All of your work can be used to support any novel that you write and prove that you are worthwhile for a literary agent or editor to take on as an unpublished author. It worked for me!

Bethany Ramos is the author of the chick lit novel 5 Stages of Grief and is under contract to publish her children's book Lions Can’t Eat Spaghetti. She also reviews chick lit books on her blog ChickLit-Books.com.

Chick Lit Plus Blog Tour: 5 Stages of Grief

Welcome to a stop on the 5 Stages of Grief blog tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours. I was looking forward to reading Bethany Ramos' novel but I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I felt about it. Let's start with the synopsis from Goodreads and then I'll try and put my thoughts into something that makes sense!

Danielle thinks that the worst is behind her, but she couldn't have been more wrong.
As a beauty editor of Denver's hot new High Life magazine, Danielle Starkey didn't have becoming a widow on her to-do list. Then nine months after her husband's death, she discovers he booked a vacation with another woman. Suddenly, Danielle sees Adam's death in a whole new light and has to get over it - for the second time.
Hit with the truth when she least expects it, Danielle brings a fresh, funny, and honest approach to the grieving process as she struggles through online dating, stalking her dead husband's mistress, and, hopefully, finding the man of her dreams. With her stubborn and sassy best friend April by her side. Danielle refuses to let sleeping dogs lie. Will she finally face the truth about herself and her marriage? Or will she succumb to one of the five stages of grief?

Let me start off by saying that I did like reading Danielle's story. I cared about her and wanted to find out how she would deal with something that seemed like a cosmic joke. Can you imagine what she was going through? I'm sure being a widow at a young age is bad enough but to then find out that your late husband had been having an affair? Brutal. With that being said, I sometimes felt like Danielle wasn't dealing with things very well. She finds out about Adam's affair and at first it seems like she isn't going to tell anyone, which I didn't think was a good idea. Happily, she did tell her best friend and her sister - both of whom were immediately there for her and wanted to make sure Danielle was going to be ok. That was great and I was glad to read that Danielle had such great moral support.

The book started off at a bit of a crazy pace. I learned that Danielle's husband had died, all about her job,  that her husband cheated on her, about her best friend April and her past and their friendship, and then she gets a dog. This all happened in the first twenty pages or so and it was kind of information overload. Things eventually slowed down, which I was grateful for. The story still moved along at a good pace and there was a lot going on but it didn't have the same hectic pace as the beginning of the novel. I know that the beginning is always when we're supposed to get the most info to be introduced to the story and the characters but it was a little too rapid fire for me.

Considering the heavy storyline, I did find myself laughing throughout the novel. I particularly liked when Danielle told April that you're not able to construct a man like you can a Build-a-Bear. I actually had to repeat the line to my sister who was in the room with me and she got a laugh out of it too. Even though I couldn't see the motivation behind some of Danielle's actions, I did like her. She was a good character and she had me interested from the start.

Danielle learns that you've got to trust yourself and be yourself before anything else can really work. While I would have enjoyed a bit more of a conclusion, I think the way the book was wrapped up was really quite sweet. Overall, I liked 5 Stages of Grief. There were a few hiccups in the telling of the story but I enjoyed the story that Ramos was telling. I do think I'd recommend it because the bones of a good story are there and I will keep my eye out for future works from Bethany Ramos.

Happy reading :)