Heroines with Hearts

Friday Friend - Deborah Riley-Magnus

2012-02-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Deborah Riley-Magnus!
She will give a free ebook copy of "Cold in California" to one lucky commenter today.

Vampires, Romance and a Real Chance at Heaven!

I don’t know about you, but the whole Vampire thing doesn’t sit well with me. Yes, they’re incredibly sexy beings everyone would secretly (or not so secretly) love to take a bite out of, but seriously, think about it. The entire concept is laced with hopelessness and despair. To live dead, cold and only in the dark, to murder in order to remain functioning, and to never, ever have the slightest hope of redemption? It breaks my heart. In fact, it bothered me so much … I changed it!

There’s so much romance mixed in the vampire lore and mythology, but I wanted to create a romance with not only the perfect woman for my reluctant vampire hero, but a romance with the possibility of true salvation. Here’s basically how it went for Gabriel Strickland:

What happens to a vampire after he finally dies? Heaven? Hell? Nope, purgatory in a West Hollywood warehouse. Go figure.

Where does any original idea come from? I’m a firm believer that creativity is plagiarism with a flare; the wheel can’t be reinvented and if it’s square, it can’t roll. Basically, all story ideas come from the same original four or five plots, but I strongly believe that how a story is told makes a bigger impact than what the story is about. Most ideas start with love or adventure, coming of age or fantasy; the great ones come from a skewed point of view no one ever thought of before … Cold in California came to me from a very twisted and off-center place.

Truth? I never intended to write a vampire story but one day, while out on sales calls in West Hollywood, I had one of those experiences only a writer can have. It was an epiphany of the creative senses. As I climbed into my car to drive to my next appointment, I noticed something very interesting across the street. A dwarf walked along then stopped in front of what appeared to be an empty old warehouse. He suspiciously looked left then right then skulked into the darkness and my mind went off into the warped unknown. What was inside that warehouse? Was that guy a leprechaun or maybe a troll? Were there other supernatural creatures in there? What were they doing in that warehouse right in the middle of bustling West Hollywood? And … and … what if they were hiding? What if they were all … dead? The vampires would be double-dead, or better yet, twice-baked! What if they have to live right in that warehouse and … what if they have to behave themselves in order to gain salvation or else?

And thus began the story.

"Cold in California" is an urban fantasy that takes a really, really dead vampire and mystically sweeps him to a West Hollywood warehouse where he has one last chance to earn redemption. Obviously this isn’t going to be easy, especially since he has to live with other chosen dead supernaturals – trolls, werewolves, pixies, leprechauns, fairies, and a few you may have never heard of. Against their natures, all these strange characters are challenged to earn the brownie points required to pass through the pearly gates. Gabriel, of course has far more difficulties, after all he’s very handsome, has to now live among humans and dead supernaturals and the other ‘living’ supernaturals infesting the planet. He has to deal with the fact that everything he believed about final death is a lie, tolerate the unique West Hollywood warehouse culture, and endure intense new and exciting love with a beautiful woman (of course). Oh, and he must ignore his “loner” personality to step up and triumph over imminent disaster. And all this poor unhappy vampire wanted to do was be dead.

My goal was to create a vampire story and romance you’ve never seen before! How much fun is that?

"Cold in California! is the first of a five book Twice-Baked Vampire Series and was released June 15, 2011.

Excerpt from Page 5

Gabriel wondered if he’d stumbled across his first ‘familiar’ human since 1931. No one had ever suspected he was vampire before. No one. Ever. Had she known his kind? Perhaps fed them? This could be easy, it should be pleasant and it might solve a multitude of problems. Gabriel was tired of moving around so much. Something a bit steadier might be just what the doctor ordered. Any relationship required a boatload of lies and apologies for his seemingly accidental, over-zealous biting. Cursed by the life he lived, hit and run was the norm for his sexual encounters. Keeping his secret demanded he leave sooner than he liked, before things got out of hand like they did in Omaha.

There’s a boredom that comes with complete variety whether one believes it or not. Living forever had its drawbacks. The mere idea of seeing the same face and tasting the same blood day after day for a while nearly charged his batteries to overload. It also raised his radar.

She may be the answer to an undead’s prayer, but she could very well be the opposite.
He’d never crossed paths with Buffy the Vampire Slayer but that didn’t mean she didn’t exist. Still, he felt an imaginary warmth under his skin and relaxed into the possibilities. Gabriel tried to be an optimistic kind of guy. He knew that if things went bad, his host went to heaven. That was a positive outlook, now wasn’t it?

Through the boring innings they chatted casually about the weather and various cities they’d seen. If, or in that case, when Chicago lost, the team would end the year in dead last but hope reigns eternal. It was the only reason the crowd was so big. At the bottom of the ninth, Brent Tittler struggling at the plate, and right in the middle of describing her best friend’s cowboy-themed wedding, Starling made a statement that would have caught Gabriel’s breath, if he breathed.

“I always wondered about the wounds. Do they heal?”

His eyes were cold and hard, he didn’t dare show his intrigue. She didn’t even flinch.

“I mean, do you leave a bad mark, and does it have to be where people can see it … when you … you know … drink? Will I need to take out stock in antiseptic?”

“You’d like to be …”

“Oh yes, especially with a great looking guy like you. You are a man, right? In every sense of the word?”

Gabriel glanced around. Behind them sat a row of nuns, all dressed in medieval black and white habits and clicking rosary beads in their gnarled fingers. Chicago Cubs caps were precariously propped, tilted on their heads over ominous black veils. No doubt they were serious, biblical Cubs fans. Like God, if there even was a God, really gave a damn where the Cubs ended the season. Gabriel could hear their whispered Hail Marys and wasn’t sure if he was more uneasy talking about sex or his unholy nature in their presence. He drew close and spoke quietly in Starling’s ear. “Are you asking if I can perform intercourse with a woman? Yes I can. Antiseptic optional.”

She giggled a nervous laugh. “So, no infection?’

“Not that I’ve ever caused.”

“Maybe we can go now?” she suggested in a husky low voice, leaning closer even though he could have heard her whispered indecent proposal from across Wrigley Field. “This will be so cool!”

By the look of her, he could only assume she’d voraciously read Anne Rice. He just as voraciously hoped he could meet her expectations. A shiver rippled over his body like a minor earth tremor. Gabriel stood, smiled and reached to grip her hand. This was more than promising and he actually felt giddy for the first time in decades.

They had great seats, third row, just past the dugout on the first base side. Sweet seats, even with the Cubbies losing. Her warm hand gripped his as the crack of the bat resounded and he turned. It was a high pop up, but unlike all the other fans around him, Gabriel wasn’t watching the ball, illusively hidden in the lights. He was watching the sharp shard of a broken wooden bat soar … at breakneck speed … right … at … his … chest …

Well, this sure as hell wasn’t supposed to happen. Staked in the heart by a fucking broken bat? Who does that happen to? His hand shot to the wood, it was buried deep and he was weakening by the second. Agonizing sensations of explosion and implosion flooded through his body, noise blasted in his ears and suddenly he was staring up at the lights. Behind them, black night. There were stars but he couldn’t see them. The pain was excruciating and Gabriel begged any god who’d listen to make it end quickly. Heat. Searing. A stench. Then came the blackness and peace he had dreamed of for nearly eighty years. Finally, an end to it all. Dead as he was meant to be.

"Monkey Jump", the second book in the Twice-Baked Vampire Series is scheduled for release in late April, 2012. Gabriel Strickland may appear to be coping well with the responsibilities his life after double-death has dealt him, but it’s only show. The struggle to earn his ticket through the Pearly Gates takes a toll when he’s assigned to perform a Monkey Jump – a program designed to teach newly assigned management the skills required to do their job. To soften the blow, he takes his love, Dori, along as his assistant. What he wants is peace, a little romance and serenity to think things through, what he gets is startling temptation, a Soul Eater and his sidekick, Master Witch and Grand Matron, Neave Brittania Cook. One has a revenge agenda and the other, designs on Gabriel’s soul. It all gets worse when the Monkey Jump itinerary takes a perilous detour to a north Alaskan community of the oldest, most evolved vampires on the planet. Secrets must be kept and Gabriel must protect Dori as well as his own path to paradise. Well hell, this can’t be good.

Cold in California Amazon Link
http://www.amazon.com/Cold-California-Twice-Baked-Vampire-ebook/dp/B0055EC7E8/

Author Bio
Deborah Riley-Magnus is an author and an Author Success Coach. She has a twenty-seven year professional background in marketing, advertising and public relations as a writer for print, television and radio. She writes both fiction and non-fiction and as an Author Success Coach, focuses exclusively on publicity, marketing and promotional solutions for authors.

Deborah produces frequent pieces for various websites including Unruly Guides and WriteSEX as a marketing expert. She also writes an author industry blog and teaches online and live workshops as The Author Success Coach. She belongs to several writing and professional organizations. In 2011, she had a novel, Cold in California, and a non-fiction, Finding Author Success released. Her second fiction is scheduled for release in late April.

She’s lived on both the east and west coast of the United States and has traveled the country widely.

My Website and Blog Links
I fiction – http://coldincalifornia.com
I write - http://deborahriley-magnus.com/
I suck - http://vampireexplored.wordpress.com/
I blog - http://rileymagnus.wordpress.com/
I teach - http://theauthorsuccesscoach.com/
I tweet – http://twitter.com/rileymagnus
I facebook - http://www.facebook.com/deborah.rileymagnus
I should be sooo tired!

My Wonderful Publisher’s Link
http://ireadiwrite.com/

M is for Music

2012-02-09T02:53:00.000-08:00

I love music. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but that doesn't stop me from singing along in the car. I belt it out along with the artist playing on the CD. This isn't the best idea in the summer, since I drive a convertible, but heck, it's not like I'm ever going to see the guy driving next to me ever again.

Music often provides a muse for me. My Christmas novella, A Christmas to Remember, was inspired by a song of the same title sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. My free read, another Christmas story as it happens, Mistletoe and Folly, was inspired by Toby Keith's "Blame it on the Mistletoe". I have an idea for a time travel based on another Toby keith song: "Bullets in the Gun".

Certain songs, while not having inspired a particular story, seem to go with one. I've chosen two songs for the playlist of my WIP, "An Unexpected Blessing", so far: "Outlaws Like Me" by Justin Moore and "Like Jesus Does" by Eric Church.

Sometimes I listen to music when I write, but not often. I'll play some classical if I'm trying to block out background noise from around the house: movie scores work well for this. But while I'm writing, songs with lyrics are distracting.

I usually try to weave music into my stories as well. A character may be listening to a favorite artist. Just one more thing to add dimension and a realistic touch to fiction. One of these days I'm going to write that story about a rock star. (My particular teen-aged fantasy!)

For me, music is the ultimate pick-me-up. It never fails to put me in a better mood.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Messages to Myself

2012-02-08T01:23:00.000-08:00

I could also have called this ‘Mistakes not to Make’ - so here goes:

Must stop being diverted by my inner editor and learn to write a first draft without agonising over every little detail. I can fix those in the first big edit of the story once it’s all written. So (a) if I can’t think of the exact word I need, I should put something similar, then highlight it so I can come back to it later and (b) if I know I’m using a word or phrase too many times, I should ignore it in the first draft (and again highlight it for future editing)

Must also stop being diverted by research, however interesting it might be. For example, how come I spent two hours on Google street view last weekend, when all I was looking for was the distance between two places? And why did I stop writing for ages to look for a surname for a minor character? Maybe I need to differentiate between research that’s important to the story, and insignificant details that I can sort out later.
Must stop procrastinating and kidding myself that playing Pyramid solitaire is my ‘thinking time’. Instead, I should use the time visiting blogs, learning from other people (about their mistakes?), leaving comments and, hopefully, getting to know other writers (and readers). The latter, of course, is the ONLY reason I spend time on Facebook and Twitter (so now who am I kidding??)
Must keep going even when I feel like I am writing through treacle or, as I read recently, carving granite with a teaspoon. Must remember that, with every story I’ve written, I’ve gone through the phase of ‘This story is rubbish, it’s going nowhere, no-one will ever want to read it.’ But I’ve carried on and eventually found myself thinking “Hmm, maybe it isn’t too bad after all” and even “Yeah, it’s turned out to be quite a good story after all.” It’s happened before, and it will happen again with the current WIP (I hope!).

There are countless more messages I could give myself but that’s enough for now. What messages do you think you ought to give yourself?

Metaphors

2012-02-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

“Up scrambles the car, on all itsfour legs…” D.H. Lawrence, Mornings inMexico

“So consumers are not exactlydragging their feet. They are dancing as fast as can be expected.” Business Week

“…there has been a mountain ofmeaning rising behind you…” Eudora Welty, OneWriter’s Beginnings

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phraseis applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Itis a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especiallysomething abstract.

Metaphors give our language color. They provide variety.They enable us to describe ordinary items, people and places in extraordinaryways.

In fact, an article published online this week in thejournal Brain & Language, and described in another article by QuinnEastman, says that the parietal operculum, the part of the brain important forsensing texture through touch, is activated when someone listens to a sentencewith a textural metaphor. How cool is that? Metaphors actually stimulate yourbrain and that stimulation can be seen with brain imaging.

So the next time you’re searching for exactly the right wordchoice, remember the metaphor—it’s good for your brain!

Mood Mythbuster

2012-02-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Romance writers deal often with mood, and changes in mood. Our heroines can change their minds quickly, as they are presented with new information or they reassess.
William Zinsser, in his On Writing Well, offers a myth buster. He says, "Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with "but." If that's what you learned, unlearn it--there's no stronger word at the start of a sentence. It announces a total contrast with what has gone before, and primes the reader for the change."
"However" is best used mid sentence, as in "It is, however, a weaker word."
"Yet" does almost the same job as "but," though its meaning is closer to "nevertheless.: Either of these words can replace a whole long phrase that summarizes what the reader has just been told. "Instead," "still," "thus," "therefore,."
Using "meanwhile," "now," "later," "today," and "subsequently" ensures the reader follows a transition in the story.
And she'll thank you for using only one word.

Welcome Emma Leigh Reed

2012-02-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Emma Leigh Reed!
(Emma will give a free print copy of Crashing Hearts to one lucky commenter, so be sure to post a comment.)

As I sit and think about writing this blog, my mind wanders to the beginning of my serious writing journey. Four years ago I decided I wanted to tell my son’s story. My son has PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder, nonspecific – in layman’s terms high functioning autism). He was at the time eleven years old and the journey he had taken me on had been frustrating, rewarding, all consuming at times, but on the whole a journey of looking at the world in a totally different light.

As I sat down to start writing his story, the emotions were so raw still I just couldn’t do it. So instead, I decided to write a fiction story, but weave my son’s journey in autism into the story line. I did not plot out this story. As it developed, the characters took over and the story just became what it is.

CRASHING HEARTS, although fiction, in a lot of ways has my own personal, and my son’s, experiences weaved throughout. A lot of the accomplishments you will see Jared making in CRASHING HEARTS are accomplishments that my son made. It was a therapeutic story for me to write, allowing me to tell some about my journey through autism and my son’s accomplishments and also allowing me to write a story in which I always wanted to do, but never had the courage.

My son’s autism has taught me a lot about my own life. His hard work to get where he is now in life has given me bravery to do what I truly love to do – write. People who have never had the experience of knowing an autistic child do not understand the small milestones that are huge. The simple act of finally getting a hug from your child, a real hug with arms wrapped around you, will bring tears to your eyes. The first words out of a four-year-old after being nonverbal and only using sign language to communicate tears can melt your heart. I would never be able to convey through a book how powerful a journey it is to be taught by your child how to never take the little things for granted.

CRASHING HEARTS EXCERPT:
Chapter 1

Kira Nichols pushed back her hair as the crisp salt air blew it across her face. She walked up the path—her sneakers leaving small impressions in the soft sand—to the cul-de-sac. At the empty lot across from her house, the foundation had been capped over and abandoned for about a year now.

She sprang into a run at the rumble of a sports car arriving at a fast clip. She arrived at the cul-de-sac at the same time the vehicle skidded to a stop. She caught her breath as the lean, ruggedly handsome man exited his vehicle. The smile he flashed her was one she imagined had many women melting at his feet.

Kira squared her shoulders and approached him. Her five foot two inch frame seemed minute compared to his at least six foot stature. She willed herself to appear calm and not give away that her senses had completely left her at the sight of him.

“Grant Rutledge.” He extended his hand to her. His deep voice, like a shot of brandy, was warm and soothing. She swallowed hard, her anger forgotten for a brief second. Then it flared back and she ignored his hand. “Do you have any idea that there are children in this area?” she demanded, planting her hands on her hips.

“My apologies if you felt I was going too fast.” He gave an exaggerated glance around. “There aren’t any children about now.” He smiled that smile again and in spite of her anger, her heart melted. She started with the realization he still had his hand extended in introduction. She tentatively shook his calloused fingers. Tingles shot up her arm and she struggled with not yanking her hand away. Heat flooded her face. She prayed he couldn’t tell.

“Again, I apologize. I hope you wouldn’t think I have no regard for children.”

Kira turned to go. “I just know the type.” She gestured absently at the car. She forced herself to walk slowly towards her house, feeling his eyes on her back. Her mind whirled. She had practically melted at the sound of his voice. Her cheeks reddened at the thought of him watching her walk away—thankful she had stayed in shape.

The solitude of the cul-de-sac was the reason she originally loved this spot. Her house had been the only one in this two-lot area for six years. She hoped the new construction company would be considerate and not disrupt the serenity, and keep working hours to normal business hours, hours when Jared was in preschool.

She thought back to the long hours they kept when they put in the foundation. Jared had been unable to sleep due to the noise and disruption of his routine. Hopefully this time around the noise wouldn’t disturb him. He was just beginning to sleep through the night.

If only she could.
* * * *
Jared ran up the walkway to meet Kira, signing furiously: “Who is that man?”

“That is Grant Rutledge,” she signed back. “He is going to be building the new house, so you will need to stay away from the construction site.”

Jared’s hands and fingers flew in his excitement to know about the new house, and the fast car he saw. “Jared, use your words.” Kira ushered him into the house.

“Car, red.”

“Yes, the car was red, and it’s very fast, so you must stay away from there.” Kira found Barbara’s eyes over Jared’s head, and gave her the “I have so much to tell you” look.

“Time to get ready for the day, Jared,” Barbara interjected.

Jared skipped off to the bedroom happily, and Barbara handed Kira a cup of coffee. “Spill. I saw him. It wasn’t the fast car that made you come into this house so quick.”

Kira, glaring at Barbara over the coffee, walked slowly to the sliding doors overlooking the ocean. “What happened to the quietness of our lives? Why do I feel like it is gone?”

“Is it gone?” Barbara asked. “Or just stirred up a little? I think maybe you’ve been holding onto grief and bitterness for so long that you don’t have any idea how to look objectively at life. Before you say it, I’m heading for the kitchen and not saying another word. Nevertheless, before I go, let me just say out of love for you, Kira, darling, Patrick’s been gone for four years now. You’ve built your life around Jared, and that’s great because Jared needs you. However, there comes a time when you need someone also, someone besides Jared and an old lady like myself.”

“Barb, it’s not like that.”

“Honey, you’ve been holding on for so long, and don’t tell me you’re not angry with Patrick for the way he left the night of the accident. Kira, I’m angry with him. He never should’ve left that way. You had it just as tough as him, if not more, with the crying. He was the father. He should have been here right beside you.”

“Stop! We are not going to rehash that night and we certainly aren’t going to blame Patrick. He’s gone and nothing is going to change that.” Kira looked toward the ocean and for- got about her coffee and Barbara. For a moment she lost track of the here and now and drifted off into the peace of the ocean.

Something caught Kira’s eye, and she turned to see Grant taking measurements, preparing for the construction. Feelings she hadn’t felt in so long flooded her as she watched his dark, wavy hair blow in the breeze. Half sighing, half growling to herself, she turned from the window. Distractions were not what she needed now. There was a routine to follow. For Jared’s sake.

Bio: Emma Leigh Reed has lived in New Hampshire all her life. She has fond memories of the Maine coastline and incorporates the ocean into all her books. She lives in a small town with her husband and three children. Her life has been touched and changed by her son's autism - she views life through a very different lens than before he was born. Growing up as an avid reader, it was only natural for Emma Leigh to turn to creating the stories for others to enjoy.

Buying info: Ebook – Amazon Ebook and print – Whiskey Creek Press
She can be found at: www.emmaleighreed.com Twitter Facebook

L is for Logan

2012-02-02T02:47:00.000-08:00

Logan Reed. I have a soft spot in my heart for him. He was my first.

My first hero that is.

My sister named him. As soon as she came up with it, I knew it was perfect.

He's the epitome of the quintisential romance hero. (At least in my mind.) Tall. Dark hair. Green eyes. He looks good in boots, Wranglers, and a cowboy hat. He drives a pick up and owns a ranch. He's a self-made, successful businessman.

But none of that matters to Sharlie. They were high school sweethearts until all of their dreams for the future were shattered. So she's none too pleased when he walks back into her life twelve years later. He presence threatens to destroy the life she's made for herself, but she can't get away from reminders of the past.

Logan has his own agenda. He's back in town to prove he's no longer the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. And he doesn't want Sharlie to forget what they once shared.

Excerpt:

Logan's strong arm encircled her waist, preventing her from falling.

Sharlie caught her breath as her body pressed against him. She raised her eyes to his.

The anger in his eyes turned to awareness. His breath hitched. The temperature in the tiny room rose.

Logan's gaze roamed every inch of her face, finally coming to rest on her lips.

Her pulse quickened, the beat thundering in her ears. They were so close she could feel the cadence of his heart. She sucked in a gasp of air.

His gaze met hers again. "I've tried to stop thinking about you like this. But I can't."

Sharlie licked dry lips, then cursed inwardly when the action drew his attention there once more. His head lowered.

"Don't," she managed.

"Don't what?" Logan's warm breath caressed her cheek.

"Don't kiss me."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to." Even to her own ears the protest sounded weak.

"Liar," Logan taunted.

"Please," she tried one last time, shaking her head in a vain attempt to deny the feelings coursing through her.

Logan cupped the back of her head, stilling the motion. "I have to." His words melted into a kiss as their lips met.

The gentle insistence of his mouth coaxed a response from her. Her lips parted, allowing the kiss to deepen. Their breath mingled. The moist heat made her knees buckle.

"Don't you remember?" Logan's husky voice whispered, as his lips left hers to trail down the column of her throat. "Remember how good it was."

Oh, yeah. And he's a good kisser.

You can read more about Logan in This Time for Always.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Love at First Sight?

2012-02-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

It’s almost a cliché in romance novels: the hero and heroine feel an instant attraction to each other from the moment they first set eyes on each other. It’s the ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ syndrome.

But does it happen in real life? And is it really love?

It has appeared in romantic poems and stories ever since ancient times. The Greeks thought of it as ‘love’s arrows’ from the god Eros reaching the eyes of the lover and travelling from there to pierce his or her heart. This symbol is still used today.

The Roman poets, too, spoke of love at first sight. According to Catullus, when the sea goddess Thetis appeared out of the waves, “That was the moment, so the story goes, when Peleus looked and loved, and Thetis happily stooped to an earthborn-mate.”

In the Middle Ages, the troubadours extended the concept of love’s arrows with the idea that the woman’s eyes were the source of the love arrow.

Shakespeare had Romeo falling for Juliet the moment he first saw her, Victor Hugo’s Marius and Cosette (in Les Miserables) fall in love when their eyes meet, the Little Mermaid falls in love with the prince when she first sees him, even Homer Simpson fell in love with Marge at his first sight of her.

Oh, and I also think Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth fell in love at first sight, even though neither was prepared to admit it to themselves, or to each other (well, I had to find some excuse for a photo here of THE Mr. Darcy aka Colin Firth, of course!)

According to modern psychology, attractiveness is determined within 0.13 seconds of meeting someone. The next checkpoint is the voice. Within three minutes, we make up our minds whether someone could become a potential partner. Evidently we are genetically programmed to size this up almost instantly, an intuitive skill developed thousands of years ago as our ancestors struggled to distinguish friends from enemies.

Some ‘sixth sense’ may also come into play – an instinct that the person you have just met will affect your life profoundly, or an inner recognition of someone who will become important in your life.

An initial attraction to someone can also be stimulated by the release of some powerful chemicals into the nervous system, creating a physiological arousal – the racing heart is one result of the chemical dopamine.

I think most people would agree that ‘love’ needs more than basic intuition, instinct, and/or chemistry. Being attracted to someone and loving someone are two different things. Maybe, however, that first response creates the drive to get to know the other person better and therefore opens the way to falling in love and then loving someone.

‘Attraction at first sight’ might be a better phrase, but the people whose first attraction does develop into love are very likely to claim that, for them, it was ‘love at first sight’.

So I think we authors can carry on writing about the magic of ‘you may see a stranger, across a crowded room, and somehow you know …’ etc.

Love

2012-01-31T05:35:00.000-08:00

As writers of romance, we are expected to focus on the loveshown between our hero and heroine. Whether we write steamy, explicit scenes orsweet, off-screen love scenes, they are expected to take place and todemonstrate the feelings our main characters have for each other.

But our hero and heroine are not the only ones who make upour story. Sure, they’re the focus, but they have to interact with otherpeople. Maybe it’s a best friend or a sibling or even a child; they don’t livein a vacuum and they can’t be three dimensional characters without the villagethat surrounds them. Think of it this way: how boring would YOU be if you nevertalked to or interacted with anyone but one other person?

The relationships our hero and heroine have with otherpeople are another way to demonstrate love and help provide context for the romanticrelationships they’re capable of having. They also provide a way for the writerto reveal hints about upcoming events or reasons for why the hero or heroine actthe way they do.

For example, in A Heart of Little Faith, my hero is fairlyprickly and at times, unlikeable. But he shows a completely different side ofhimself with a child:

Her sobs snapped Gideon out ofhis reverie and he swore to himself. He hadn’t meant to yell at her, certainlyhadn’t meant to scare her. He wheeled across the room, around the chair she’dleft in the middle of the floor, and into his bed-room. As he pulled up to theside of his bed, he lowered his voice and crooned.

“Shh, sweetheart. It’s okay,honey. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Claire rolled over and pulled herknees up to her chest. She stared at Gideon, her breath hiccupping. Gideonreached over and brushed the tears from her face, his hands following the wettrail across her cheek and into her hair.

“I’m sorry, Claire.” He waitedand gave her time to focus on what he said.

She sat up and he patted his lap.She climbed into it and he hugged her as he rocked her back and forth. Thewarmth from her body melted the icy feeling in his heart.

His sister, Samantha, is the catalyst to his relationshipwith the heroine, Lily. She often appears to meddle, but she does it out oflove for him:

Gideon took a deep breath.“Samantha, I know you’re doing what you think is best, but believe me, I don’twant your help. I am perfectly happy just the way I am.”

“Are you?” Samantha asked. “Imean really?”

Gideon closed his eyes for aminute. “Sam, there are a lot of definitions of happy, so yes, I am. Besides, Ican take care of myself.”

“I know youcan. Okay, I’ll lay off.”

InSkin Deep, the hero has never known love from anyone in his past, except aspecial teacher who took on the “mother role.” Their bond is special, and iswhat helped to shape the way he relates to people as an adult:

“This womansaved my life.” He stared at Valerie. “She was there for me when no one elsewas.”

John rang thedoorbell and squeezed her hand while they waited. After a moment, the curtainsmoved in the front window. A squeal, and the door opened wide, releasing thesmell of cinnamon outside. A tiny woman with white hair and a huge smile stoodin the doorway.

“John!” shecried as her eyes sparkled. She stood back and ushered them both into thehouse.

John reacheddown and gave her a quick hug. Valerie saw the brief look of shock on thewoman’s face at the contact, before she hid it from view. This woman knew Johnwell, she thought. Her arms fluttered around John like a butterfly, be-forethey rested lightly on his broad back.

“Hello, Mrs.Mayberry. I’d like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Valerie. Valerie, this isMrs. Mayberry, my fifth-grade teacher.”

There are all types of love that can be shown in a romancenovel. And the more you use, the more complex your characters, and yourstories, will be.

Lexicon of Laughter

2012-01-29T15:21:00.001-08:00

Humor is one mode of characterization I rarely use. To my detriment, I've been thinking. The world is so serious. I don't laugh as much as I should. But it feels good when I do.

A character who trips over her own feet would jump off the page like a one-armed juggler. I wouldn't have too many tag lines for a character soothes tense situations by cracking bad jokes.

Jan Hornung, in Seven Steps to Better Humor Writing, says a writer must create an image in the reader's mind in order to make him chuckle, giggle, or smile. A writer cannot shove a pie in the reader's face, trip over his own feet and go sprawling, or make goofy gestures. A writer must use only words to conjure up situations and dialogue that bring rib-splitting, bone-tickling, knee-slapping guffaws, or at least a snicker, from the reader.

Jan says, "Whether or not a writer is personally funny is not important. What is important is that the writer can make the reader think that the characters and situations are funny. One of the greatest humor writers of all time was William Shakespeare, 1564-1616. Those who have read and studied "The Bard" appreciate him for the great comedy writer that he was. He developed characters that played off one another, and he created situations in which his characters could manipulate and interact with each other, resulting in a humorous effect.

Here are Jan's guidelines to writing humor:

1. Don't tell the reader that something is funny. Let the reader discover this for himself. Do this by painting a picture with words that the reader can relate to with all five of his senses. Describe the smells, textures, tastes, sights, and sounds.

As the writer, ask yourself how, why, who, when, and where, as you describe a character or situation. Tell the reader how something smells, tastes, feels, looks, and sounds. Describe why something smells, tastes, feels, looks, and sounds the way it does. And so on. Certainly you, the writer, don't have to address all of these questions, but by doing so, you will cover all the potential bases toward painting the best picture possible.

In Hamlet, Hamlet tells Horatio of his dead friend, Yorick. As he describes his friend to Horatio, Hamlet holds the skull of Yorick in his hand. "Here hung those lips that I have kiss'd I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?" In this example, Shakespeare uses Hamlet to bring Yorick alive for the reader. The reader can almost see Hamlet holding the skull in his hand; additionally, the reader can hear the "roar" of laughter from the guests at the table as Hamlet describes Yorick singing or telling a funny story. Shakespeare creates images using words that stir the reader's senses, evoking emotions in the reader as well.

We aren't any of us Shakespeare, nor do many of us want to be. If your character gets hit in the face with a pie, it may or may not be funny. If your character gets hit in the face with a lemon pie, with yellow, gooey blobs of meringue dripping from his chin and snowy drifts of whipped cream sticking from his ears, this paints a picture for the reader that is more likely to be perceived as whimsical. If the pie "splats" across his face, sending wafts of tangy-sweet lemon scent, along with a bit of graham cracker crust, up his nose as he sticks out his eager tongue to bring home the cheek-puckering flavor -- this is a hoot. Now the reader can smell, feel, taste, see, and hear that pie.

2. Use metaphors and similes that bring familiar images into your reader's mind. Used effectively, metaphors and similes say volumes with a few words. A metaphor is a figure of speech using a word or phrase that usually means one thing to refer to something else. Such as Shakespeare's metaphor, "All the world's a stage," said by Jacques in As You Like It. Using this metaphor, this character reflects on how people behave. Shakespeare uses the metaphor to paint an image of a stage in the reader's mind.

Metaphors, such as "his driveway doesn't go all the way to the street," can paint a funny image in the reader's mind of a not-all-there person. Everyone has met someone like this, so the reader can relate to such a metaphor.

A simile is a figure of speech in which the writer compares two unlike items, usually using the word "like" or "as". Shakespeare's simile, "I am constant as the northern star," spoken by Caesar in Julius Caesar, compares Caesar's strong will to the brightest star in the sky.

The simile, "we were wrestling around like two pigs in the mud, only he was enjoying it and I was just getting dirty," shows, not just tells the reader about, a funny situation.

3. Blending description, metaphors, and similes with dialogue is another way for the writer to expand his medium. Metaphors in a dialogue can add a humorous flavor of their own to the story or character. Such as one character might comment using a metaphor, "The squeaky wheel gets oiled." The other character responds with another metaphor, "And the quacking ducks gets shot!"

Similes can be funny in their own right, and added to a humorous situation can make it even funnier, such as, "I'm happy as a mosquito in a nudist colony," creates a humorous image in the reader's mind.

4. Words that portray movement are yet another way the writer can paint a funny picture for the reader. A character that is moving, like an actor on a stage, has more potential for hilarity than one that is not moving. Using action verbs, the writer can create a jovial image and elicit amusement from his reader such as in this example from a helicopter student learning to hover. "I madly made exaggerated corrections with the cyclic. We zigged crazily in mid zag, then zagged wildly in mid zig."

5. Colorful adjectives help the writer paint the exact image he wants the reader to experience. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy to look up adjectives that will spice up your writing. If the writer describes "a cow," the reader is left to color in the cow on his own. Use adjectives to describe all five senses as you paint a picture with words. "She was not just a cow but a sauntering bovine beauty with chocolate-bar swirls of milky browns and milk-shake white on a suede background -- the most delicious contented cud-chewer I'd ever seen."

6. Find new ways to say the same old thing. Was the woman large? Or does she look like she's built for comfort rather than speed? Was the man skinny? Or did he have to run around in the shower just to get wet?

7. Satire and irony add humor to the written story also. Irony is the use of words to express the opposite of their literal meaning. Satire is the use of irony or wit to attack something. Be careful with satire and irony; a writer can easily miss his mark, leaving the reader confused.

Jan Hornung's Summary: "Remember to paint that picture using all five senses. Add a metaphor or two, a few similes, action verbs, and colorful adjectives."

Maybe writing a funny line or two wouldn't be that hard, after all.

Friday Friend Joya Field

2012-01-26T18:40:00.001-08:00

Please welcome Joya Fields! Joya is the author BENEATH THE SURFACE, a romantic suspense just published by The Wild Rose Press.

Joya, What sort of schedule do you follow for writing? What tends to get in the way?
A writing schedule is very important. After I grab a cup of coffee and take the pug for her walk, I write two or three hours every morning. If I'm lucky, and errands, housekeeping and "mom" duties don't get in the way, I spend another two or three hours in the afternoon writing.

Did you plot or pantser your new release? Did you use any ‘maps’ or
‘sheets’? Why or why not?
Ooh, great question. I teach a plotting class at the local community college, so they laugh when I tell them I'm a pantser. But even pantsers need a plan. For Beneath the Surface, I used a chart/outline, but I wrote it in pencil because I think plotting is important, but spontaneity--letting the characters change my original ideas—is important, too.

Did you slip a real, personal experience into your new release? Can you
tell us what that was and how you changed it?
I used a combination of life experiences. For instance, I think the heroine, Brooke, is a composite of lots of people with disabilities I've met over the years. She's got the strength of some of the clients I met while working at Easter Seals, and she's got insecurities and worries like all of us.

Do you have a favorite food or drink while you write, or as a reward
for so many completed pages?
A hot coffee as I write helps me keep the words flowing, and if I hit 2,000 words a day, I celebrate with a flavored coffee. Chocolate coffee is my favorite!

How do you approach editing and revising? Do you have critique partners
or beta readers?
I can write a draft for a novel in a month, but then it takes me six months to revise. I'm working on that--trying to get more stuff right the first time through. Thank goodness for critique partners and groups! I'm a member of an on-line crit group and an in-person crit group and those guys and gals have helped me in so many ways that I don't think I'll ever be able to appropriately thank them. I think every writer needs honest feedback from people who understand the process.

How long between submission to your publisher and acceptance? Please
tell our followers something about how they worked with you.
I submitted my query to The Wild Rose Press in October, received a "revise and resubmit" request (with specific suggestions) in January, and then submitted a revised manuscript in February. On April 11th (yes, I remember the exact date), I received an offer for publication. Yipppeee.

If you could spend an afternoon with anyone in history, who would it
be—and what would you do together?
Wow, this is a great question. I think I'd like to get a cup of coffee with Albert Einstein and chat with him about how he got his ideas. I've heard he got a lot of his "a-ha" moments while shaving, and I'd like to know if that's true. If so, I might start shaving more often. :)

Joya Fields has had over 100 stories and articles published in local and national magazines and her debut novel, BENEATH THE SURFACE, a romantic suspense, and LOVE DELIVERED, a romantic comedy novella, are now available. www.joyafields.com

She’s fighting to stay independent—he’s determined to protect her no matter what…

Brooke Richards survived the earthquake that took her parents and most of her leg, but she needs time to regroup. A trip to Florida for a state-of-the-art prosthesis and to visit her best friend Linda seems ideal. But the trip turns traumatic when Brooke witnesses Linda’s boat disintegrating in a fiery explosion.

Police officer Garrett Ciavello believes the blast was intentionally set to hide something Linda found on a dive. When Brooke offers her expertise in underwater archeology, Garrett accepts her help with the investigation. But since his fiancée’s death years ago, Garrett has become overprotective, and as they are drawn to each other, Garrett realizes he will risk anything to keep Brooke safe.

Brooke is fiercely independent. Garrett is fiercely protective. Will they heal each other’s wound and find a killer…before it’s too late?

From the novel:
For the first time since the accident, Brooke forgot about her leg. Forgot about all she’d lost and focused on the way Garrett made her feel.
She knew she needed to stop him. She should find a way to resist the temptation to be with him. But for a few minutes, she could enjoy the taste of him, the feel of him, couldn’t she?
He dropped his hands to her waist and softened the kiss before trailing a line of kisses down her neck. A weak cry slipped from her mouth. “Garrett,” she whispered.
She should stop this now before it got any more intense.
He lifted her chin and forced her to meet his brown eyes, smoky with desire. Heat spiraled to her middle and she caught a whiff of his sawdust scent.
“I…I can walk you back to your own room before I head to mine.” His voice broke as he whispered.
She swallowed hard. She couldn’t do this right now with him. Too many obstacles stood in their way. But as she looked in his somber eyes, she realized none of those complications were bigger than her need for Garrett.
“Let’s go to your room,” she said, her voice shaking. She moved her hands inside his shirt and ran them over his tight abs and chest. Heat soared through her body at the feel of him. “Together…”

K is for Kissing

2012-01-26T02:52:00.000-08:00

Kissing plays a big part in a romance novel. Whether it's the first kiss, a kiss leading to lovemaking, or the final kiss which seals the hero and heroine's happily every after, each is special. Each has its own feel and purpose. Each is different...even within the same story.

Kisses can be...
Sweet. Tender. Sensual. Erotic. Carnal. Passionate.

They can...
Comfort. Entice. Arouse. Elicit.

They say...
Hello. Good-bye. I miss you. I love you. You're the only one for me.

Sometimes the build up to the kiss can be as exciting as the kiss itself.

Most of the excerpts I post as teasers for my books are kissing scenes. Sometimes it's a first kiss, sometimes not. A kissing scene reveals the chemistry between the hero and heroine. It is both emotional and sensory.

Kissing scenes aren't just thrown into stories for the heck of it. They have a purpose. A meaning. They move the story along and are part of the plot. They show the growing physical and emotional relationship between the hero and heroine. They can even show goal, motivation, or conflict.

They are some of the very best reasons to read and write romance.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Keeping your Readers Reading

2012-01-25T01:11:00.000-08:00

We all know how important it is to have a good opening to draw the reader into your story. The main advice about this can be summed up as:

Open with one of your protagonists.
Open at a pivotal point in the story.
Open with a hook – maybe a question or the first suggestion of a conflict.

My first two lines of ‘Fragrance with Violets’ are:

“Jack Tremayne’s back at Fir Garth,” Mrs Garside said.

The delicate china figurine of Peter Rabbit slipped out of Abbey Seton’s hand, and fell to the floor, shattering with a tinkling sound.

Okay, so I think I covered those points. Maybe Mrs Garside isn’t a protagonist, but Jack is, and his return is pivotal. These two lines also provide the hook and the question: Why is Abbey so startled about Jack’s return that she drops the figurine?

On Six Sentence Sunday, I’ve used two more excerpts following these first sentences and had a lot of comments to the effect of ‘want to know who Jack is’, ‘want to find out what their story is’, ‘why is she reacting like this’ and, one of the most recent ones (following an excerpt which comes at the top of the second page in the actual book): ‘Intriguing. Now I’m really curious.’

So hopefully I have my readers hooked and asking questions in the first two pages.

Now, how do I keep them reading?

Here’s what I think (in no particular order, just my take on what keeps ME reading a book!)

If you answer some of their initial questions, give them other things to wonder about.

Don’t dump all the backstory in one lump, tease your readers with part-revelations, not obscure enough to frustrate, but intriguing enough to make them want to find out more.

Don’t introduce too many characters too quickly – readers can get confused (and annoyed!) when they can’t work out who’s who and /or whether they are important characters or not. .

Move the story along. Don’t meander into irrelevant events or conversations.

Make your characters ones they can care about, empathise with, feel their emotions, cry when they cry, smile when they’re happy.

Make sure your plot is realistic and not contrived.

Don’t go into excessive description – readers tend to skip it.

Provide cliff-hangers i.e. page-turners. Your readers should want to know what happens next (so that they think , maybe late at night, ‘Just one more chapter’). Some of my reviewers have said they ‘couldn’t put it down’ which, to me, is one of the best things people have said about my first book.

Keep them wondering how the hero and heroine can ever get together for their ‘happy ending’. They know this is going to happen but they need to be curious about how it will happen, when all seems lost.

And finally, don’t hand a solution on a plate to your hero and heroine through some contrivance or coincidence. The reader needs to know they’ve struggled against the odds, overcome their problems, and, most satisfying of all, learnt something about themselves and each other in the process.

But please don’t have the hero and heroine hating each other all the way through the story until the final chapter when they suddenly realise they love each other!

And here am I, with my Kindle and a story I had to keep on reading, even while I was waiting for my daughter and partner to finish their shopping at Disneyworld!

K is for Knowledge

2012-01-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

The idea that knowledge is power is as true for writers asit is for politicians. Writers need to know their characters, their charactermotivation, the conflict and the resolution. They need to know their books andthe people who populate them as well as they know themselves; sometimes evenbetter. If we don’t know our characters and why they do what they do, we can’twrite our stories. Well, we can, but the stories won’t make sense, they won’tgo anywhere and readers will immediately see the holes.

We all know this. Every class, every how-to book, everyother writer tells us this. Why then, is it so hard to describe our book,especially when we have to boil it down to a “30-second elevator pitch” or a 75-wordback cover blurb? Maybe it’s just me, but I can have an entire 50,000+manuscript in my head, know what every character looks like and sounds like andbe practically living the plot, but if someone asks me, “What’s your bookabout?” I stare at them blankly as I scramble to come up with something.

We’re told to try to relate our stories to a “big picturetheme,” like Beauty and the Beast or Romeo and Juliet, and then to try to showhow it’s different. Classic literary or romance themes are fairly easy for me,and I know why and how my book differs. But there’s always more I want to say.

For example, my current WIP is a contemporary romance withJewish characters. It’s based on the holiday of Purim and involves hiding one’sidentity. Sure, that description is short and sweet, but it really doesn’t tellanyone very much. It doesn’t provide any character flavor—“Jewish” is not aflavor (ask Baskin Robbins) and certainly doesn’t sound enticing enough foreven me to read, much less someone else!

I want to describe klutzy Samara with the beautiful voicewho drops or spills something every time she’s near the hero; noble Nathanielwho’s a single dad and who hates being the center of attention; perfect, butflawed Josh, who’s so busy trying to “save” Samara from herself that he ends upalmost ruining everything. But that would take too many words. And describingthe hilarious and tragic holiday of Purim, which provides the backbone to thestory? Well, that’s an entire book in Judaism, and I don’t have enough time inan elevator or space on the back of the book to do that.

So for now, until I can whittle all this knowledge down into30 seconds or 75 words, I’m going to be stuck. Hopefully not for long though!

K is for Kazakhstan

2012-01-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

I have never been to Kazakhstan. Or Kentucky.
If I wanted to set a romance in either place, I’d need some self-education. The ideal method would be move there, fulfilling my if-only-I-could dream of becoming a purposeful nomad. Second best, I could travel there on a vacation.
But neither of these are realistically within my grasp, so let’s brainstorm on how I could prepare to write an historical romance set in the Bluegrass State.

1. I could talk with someone who lived there, either in person or online.
2. A Writers Digest book called “Writer’s Guide to Places” lists interesting facts about US states and their major cities. For example, “Kentucky never chose sides in the Civil War, and a Henderson teacher named Mary Wilson came up with the idea for Mother’s Day in 1887.” The book also lists books and websites for further research.
3. I inherited a 1965 World Book Encyclopedia set. The history and terrain sections are still valid.
4. I could check out books from the library. Especially nice are children’s books.
5. Use Google maps and other Google features for correct street alignment.

What sources do you use for setting research?

Welcome Carol Wyatt w/a Morgan K. Wyatt

2012-01-20T05:16:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Carol Wyatt, writing as Morgan K. Wyatt. She penned the following:

Laughter in the Bedroom
Recently I was at a romance writer’s retreat where we read our love scenes aloud to each other. One writer chuckled to herself as she confessed she tells her husband that he’s her inspiration for all her love scenes. The other women tittered as if this were a great joke. The idea that we might use real life situations for the steamy scenes seemed amusing, but why should it?
Admittedly, most of us are not paired with some George Clooney clone, although we love our honeys dearly. I bet even George has a few moments when he approaches his latest love and stabs his foot on her abandoned stiletto heel, maybe even her stiletto knife depending on the woman. Sure, we female readers do want a hot scene, but we want it real too.
Authentic includes conflict. A heroine with a difficult name can have her sweetheart mispronounce her name at an inopportune moment making her wonder at his devotion or even causing her to kick him out of bed. I read in a blog by a thrice-married man that he always calls his wife honey because he’s afraid he might call her by an ex-wife’s name.
Think of some of your more memorable encounters, many times there may have been a fumble, but the two of you managed to smooth it over. Old style romances featured a virgin who immediately responds to her experienced lover by having an orgasm her very first time out the gate. Really? How many of us raised on this diet were disappointed by our first time?
A fellow writer planned a romantic picnic complete with wine and music. Her husband didn’t get it and groused about having to eat on the floor. Maybe the guy doesn’t quite understand a romantic setting we’ve created, but when it is explained to him then he is more than ready to participate. The reader can laugh with the couple because she has experienced something similar in her life. You can play with what can go wrong from the woman tripping in her too high heels to the bed breaking.
In the movie, HITCH, Will Smith explains to the woman he tries to impress that he’d imagined things playing out differently in his head. Same thing happens with Ashlee in my first novella RELUCTANT COUGAR by Secret Cravings Publishing when she tries to work up the courage to kiss her date.
They walked in silence for a few minutes as Ashlee debated about the wisdom of kissing him. Glancing around discreetly, she checked for walkers. Finding none, she turned toward Nick. He immediately stopped and held perfectly still, but his eyes were alert as he watched her. No easy way to steal a kiss from a tall man. Ashlee braced her hands on his shoulders as she stretched to meet his lips. Once her lips touched his, his arms went around her and snuggled her close.
His lips managed to be soft and firm at the same time. For a moment, she rested her lips on his, taking in the feel of his arms embracing her. His scent, a combination of some high-end cologne, sweat, and dryer sheet fragrance jumpstarted her libido into coming out of hibernation from the moment he touched her. Months had passed since she last had a man’s arms around her. How did she forget how wonderful it could be? Did having a firm, younger body next to hers make it better? Finding out sounded like a discovery mission to her.
Moving her lips on his, she intensified the kiss. Ashlee’s tongue slipped out, teasing the corners of his mouth and tracing the seam of his lips. Nick’s arms tightened around her as he murmured encouraging sounds, opening his lips slightly. Amazingly, for once in her life, she was the romantic aggressor. Sliding her tongue past his parted lips, she ran it across his teeth before tangling with his tongue, giving Ashlee a sense of power. Nick’s hands dropped to her ass pulling her hips even closer and talk about strong attraction. His stretched long and hard against her belly.
“Nice day we’re having, isn’t it?” a male voice called out.
It couldn’t be Nick; his mouth covered hers. Nick’s hands pivoted her to hide the front of his body from a grinning gardener complete with hedge clippers in his hands.
“Excellent day,” Nick answered.
Why hadn’t she seen the gardener? Cut branch limbs littered the ground indicating he’d obviously been working away for some time. All her thoughts centered on Nick and kissing him to the extent, she missed seeing the man.
“Lots of folks out on a day like this,” the gardener continued, making such broad hints that even a lust-dazed mind could comprehend.
“You’re right,” Nick agreed, touching her elbow to turn Ashlee in the direction of the path.
The gardener’s eyes twinkled a little as he called out, “Enjoy the rest of your day.” Then he laughed as they turned to walk away. Nick assured him they would enjoy the rest of their day, drawing another laugh.
“I think he was spying on us,” Ashlee whispered in case the gardener might hear.
Nick shrugged his shoulders, making a point of taking her hand and interweaving fingers. “What if he was? It may have reminded him of a time when he had a beautiful woman in his arms.” (Find out how to read more and enter my Godiva and Pearls Contest at: www.morgankwyatt.com)

Women when questioned about what would make them look twice at a man or give him their number shocked interviewers by stating overwhelmingly a man who could make them laugh would do it. A man who can make a woman laugh and can laugh at himself relaxes a woman. Dating is hard enough we can use a stress breaker. He also represents the happy feeling, which accompanies laughter.
In the movie, SHIRLEY VALENTINE, Shirley hears a full orchestra while she and her newfound man are making love on the boat. Your character could hear some amazing piano music building to a crescendo when she is with her guy only to remember her next door neighbor is a classical pianist, or it could be a ringtone.
Comic misunderstandings usually merit a laugh. One cell phone service did an ad series about people not hearing clearly. Maybe your heroine thinks her hero wants her to dress up as a nursery rhyme character and she is waiting in costume complete with shepherd’s crook when he arrives home with his old college roommate, Beau Fleet.
Of course, a woman breaking out in laughter at the wrong time can kill a man’s libido just as much as tears. It might help if the woman explains she laughs when she is totally happy, then that makes laughter the absolute right thing to have in the bedroom. Now, I realize this is my opinion and some readers will disagree. They want their scenes without fumbles, confusion, or laughter, but that just isn’t reality.

Morgan will be giving away a free ebook copy of Reluctant Cougar to one lucky commenter today.

Find out more about Carole Wyatt w/a Morgan K Wyatt at:
www.morgankwyatt.com www.datingafterfortyeight.blogspot.com
11/11 Reluctant Cougar-Secret Cravings Publishing
12/11 Christmas Warmth-XOXO Publishing
1/12 Cub in Blue-Secret Cravings Publishing
2/12 Puppy Love-Secret Cravings Publishing

Thanks for being here today, Carol!

J is for Jobs

2012-01-19T05:27:00.001-08:00

It's important for your hero and heroine to have a job. Giving them this realistic, everyday attribute can make them seem more human to our readers. A charcter's choice of occupation can also give us a deeper insight into him or her. In real life, many people choose careers based on their personality. This can work for fictional characters as well. Most of my characters' jobs are average, ordinary jobs. (Although I do have one Secret Service agent.) This adds a touch of the familiar and makes them seem like real people.

In my books, I tend to use my characters' jobs as part of the plot, which often leads to or forms part of the conflict.

In This Time for Always, Sharlie works as the manager of a bar. Logan comes back to town to buy that bar. This sets up the external conflict for the former high school sweethearts.

In Wild Wedding Weekend, Noah's carefree job as a freelance photographer proves to Abby how wrong he is for her. She wants someone to settle down with, not someone who travels around the world and is never home.

In This Can't Be Love Zach's disinterest in getting a 'real' job causes friction between the hero and heroine. He's a bouncer...in Jessica's view - based mostly on past experience...this tells her he has no ambition in life.

In A Christmas to Remember, it's Sam's secrecy about his job that first intrigues Heather and adds to the mystery surrounding him. But it's also the thing that could keep them apart and prevent them from living happily ever after.

In my WIP "An Unexpected Blessing", Joe's returned home to his small hometown after a stint in jail and has taken a job with Katy's parents as their handyman. Katy also happens to be back in town because she lost her job and couldn't afford to live on her own. This puts my hero and heroine in close proximity.

In another WIP "This Feels Like Home", Jake is a bull rider, and the danger it poses makes Amber want to keep her distance, even as her feelings for him begin to grow.

What kind of jobs do you give your characters? Are they integral to the plot of your story, or just there for background information?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Friday Friend Carol Wyatt, w/a Morgan K Wyatt

2012-01-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

Jerk, Jolt and Jump?

2012-01-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

My heroine’s heart does all that, and more. My hero’s heart does the same too.

But, while hearts can (and do) thump, pound, and thud with shock and tension (not to mention sexual pursuits), do they actually jerk, jolt or jump?

We use the expressions (or at least I do), but in fact those J’s actually come from elsewhere in the body, and not the heart.

I’ve learnt to be more circumspect about my characters’ hearts after discovering (while editing one novel) that my heroine’s heart had done the 3 J’s a few times, plus thumped , pounded, thudded, and leapt, and her heartbeat had accelerated, quickened, raced, skipped, missed a beat and done so many different things that she was in danger of an imminent heart attack.

What about ‘heartache’ and ‘heartbreak’? Does the heart really ache? Can it actually break? The answer is probably no, but poetry and literature have concentrated on the heart as the centre of emotion.

In the culture of all ages, the heart is everywhere, from the Roman poet Catullus with his heart ‘hardened’ (problem with his arteries?) to J.K.Rowling’s ‘The Warlock’s Hairy Heart’ (what??)

The heart has dominated emotional response and love - think Valentine’s Day and ‘I (heart) - whatever’.

However, our emotions, feelings, reactions come mainly from our minds, and from elsewhere in our bodies too, not to mention from adrenalin which originates in the kidney. Not very romantic, huh?

So, in romance novels anyway, the heart will continue to jerk, jolt and jump.

The Journey

2012-01-17T04:17:00.000-08:00

As a writer, my journey to publication has been long andwinding, with several rest stops along the way. When I first started writing, Iwrote mainly at night while my kids slept. I’d crank out pages during the twohours between the time I put them to bed and me to bed. It was a secretivetime, with no one allowed to know about it, much less read what I wrote. Kindof like driving aimlessly on a winding, dark country road, where the only thingyou see is what’s illuminated by your headlights.

Once I’d written my first draft, I realized how much Ididn’t know about writing. I joined RWA, took on-line classes and entered a fewcontests. I still didn’t want anyone to see what I’d written, but I knew Ineeded feedback other than my own. My journey had moved off the single-lanecountry roads and onto slightly wider, more-trafficked back roads. Thevisibility was better, but there were more cars to avoid and I needed to have adestination; otherwise, frustrated drivers would honk their horns as they hurriedpast me.

I got a little braver and attended conferences, where Iactually identified myself as a romance writer. I met with agents and editorsand pitched my story. I submitted queries and partials to them and waitedeagerly for their feedback. Publication was a distant dream; I was in it morefor the experience and kernels of wisdom that a few friendly industry expertsmight wish to give me. I’d graduated to city driving. My reflexes were fasterand I could avoid the slower drivers by changing lanes.

I continued submitting my first story to other editors andagents. Positive feedback coupled with eventual rejections encouraged anddiscouraged me, but I kept at it. There were potholes and construction delayson the highway ramp; I screamed uselessly from the privacy of my own car, butrefrained from leaning on the horn. I began writing my second story.

I was wiser and braver now. I found a critique partner formy second story and actually let her see my writing, cringing every time shesent back her response via email, and then smacking my head over all the thingsshe saw—good and bad—that I could not. I creeped out onto the highway, stayingin the right lane the whole time

My critique partner alternately boosts me up and smacks meback into reality, depending on what I needed that day. I was braver aboutsubmitting, taking chances. I still don’t talk about it, but I was makingprogress. I’d moved out of the right lane into the center, with an occasionalforay into the passing lane (shutting one eye and screaming the whole way).

The day I received my first contract, I announced toeveryone what I’d spent the past six years doing. I saw that talking about itdidn’t have to destroy my dream and that encouragement and pride from othersmade me feel good about myself. I could pass even the semi-trucks and as longas I left them plenty of room, I didn’t get run over. I was still on thejourney, but had a lot more confidence. And somewhere along the way, I foundthat it was fun!

Jump Cuts

2012-01-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Many of us were taught by well-meaning English teachers to notify the reader of a transition of time or place. We worked to perfect transition sentences and to use what "Hooked" author Les Edgerton calls various transition techniques to transport the reader hither and yon: flashbacks and flashforwards and location changes, or focusing on another character, as the story required."

Edgerton explains how literature influenced silent films. "MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH" lingered on an otherwise blank screen. When movies first incorporated sound, a voice-over, or a voice over and text pronouncement, delivered notice of every time or setting transition.

The first film to use a jump cut--a transition where the narrative simply jumps to the next scene without forewarning the viewer--was Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless." Godard had shot 8,000 meters of film, and the producers had a maximum limit of 5,000 meters. Godard had to cut the film down or it would be unsellable. According to Godard, he and his editor flipped a coin at each scene in a sequence and let fate determine which footage to cut. Necessity invented the jump cut.

Some critics hated this new storytelling technique, but others loved it, and "eventually, the new kids on the block ruled." Now screenwriters just write the next scene without any labeling, regardless of its placement in the narrative, chronological or not.

Edgerton says film and television are doing the most in training readers these days. "The astute writer will realize that and write accordingly."

I've received critiques that faulted me for not demarking transitions in character POV, or time and place. In many places, a clarification was needed. At others, though, the flow for the reader seems uninterrupted. Then I debate: do I add words to for a more detailed transition? Or will the reader appreciate the lack of a pause in the action or emotion?

I feel transitions should be long jumps. Maybe triple jumps. But not sack races.

Friday Friend Calisa Rhose

2012-01-13T02:38:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I had the privilege of guesting on Calisa Rhose's blog. Today I get the pleasure of introducing her to you here.

Small-town country girl Calisa Rhose lives in a semi-remote area of Oklahoma with her husband, five dogs and one horse. All of her three daughters and their families live within throwing distance. She’s a member of RWA and the local chapter OKRWA. She intends to nurture and continue to grow as an author with the help of her family and supporters.

Calisa, welcome to Heroines with Hearts!
Tell us about yourself.
I began writing, weaving stories as a teen and it never went away. With encouragement from family I finally wrote and began to submit. I’m published with The Wild Rose Press as of Dec 2011—three weeks ago!

Tell us about Home.
My story is one of several books created by Oklahoma authors to hi-light the awesome talent we Okies have in our little fingers (and the rest of our bodies, too) that tells of the travels through time of a cursed scrimshaw doll. HOME is about finding a place to belong when the one place my hero Sam Callahan had always thought would be there wasn’t any longer. War had changed everything for him. My heroine, Poppy Tippen becomes that place of comfort and peace for him just when he thinks all is lost. For Poppy HOME has always been where love is so when she saw the chance to have the man she’s always loved she fights for him and her own place to belong.

How does it fit into the Scrimshaw Doll series?
Poppy is a descendant of the original creator of the curse. But being a modern woman of the sixties she doesn’t hold to wives tales so she chooses to ignore the curse that only true love can break. Is it real? You’ll have to read to find out. HOME is the turning point book in the series as the final historical.

What got you interested in writing?
I don’t even know. I started out with poetry in middle school and it snowballed from there over the years.

What comes first, plot or characters?
Characters usually, but with HOME I think plot created the characters.

What have you learned from being a published author that you wish you knew before you were published?
It takes a lot of patience! And the world of authors is so supportive I was amazed at how quickly I was accepted as one of ‘them’ by all authors I met with my publisher!

(Debra: TWRP really is a very supportive, extremely talented group of authors.)
Any advice for new writers?
Get a few critique partners, join a good and supportive, critique group and then use what feels right to you. Not everything a crit partner says is gold so be careful you chip the nuggets out and save them. Most of all, don’t give up. If writing is your dream—keep after it!

What’s next for you? What have you got in the works?
I have a paranormal series I’m writing and a contemporary cowboy story is in progress. I also have a couple of projects I set aside to work on the cowboy one that I can’t wait to get back to this new year.

(Debra: Oooh. I love cowboy stories!)
Where can we find you and your books?
Get your copy of HOME at The Wild Rose Press and on Amazon.
Find Calisa at her website/blog http://calisarhose.wordpress.com
On twitter @Calisa_Rhose and Facebook @Calisa Rhose
She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at calisa.rhose@gmail.com

HOME blurb

TAG:
What could a gypsy and a Vietnam veteran have in common?
BLURB:

Silvertown’s outcast, Poppy Tippen, has loved football hero Sam “The Force” Callahan forever. But he never seemed to know she was alive. Now he’s home from the war and she suddenly finds herself comforting him from the demons of “that damn war.” Is his attention merely an escape from the haunting nightmares? Or does she hold the interest of the only man she’s ever truly loved?

Sam Callahan’s only solace from the war nightmares wrecking his life comes in the unlikely form of a gypsy girl with stigmas of her own. He’s known Poppy his entire life, but there’s something different about her now. Something special he desperately wants to hold on to. Can he convince her she’s the only thing he needs to put the past behind him?

I is for Indecision

2012-01-12T02:57:00.000-08:00

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a romance writer. About fifteen years ago I took my first step toward taking it 'seriously' by joining a local chapter of RWA. This was, and still is, a good decision for my career. I've learned a lot by attending meetings and programs and participating in critiquing sessions, both as a reader and a critiquer.

About ten years ago I took another 'serious' step and attended a writers' conference and pitched to an editor at Silhouette. She requested the full manuscript, but it was eventually rejected, although I did get a very nice, personal letter from her. A few years after that I submitted a query to another editor there, but that, too was rejected.

I was bummed, but not overly so, since rejection tends to be a part of this business. More than being bummed, though, I was stuck. I wrote what I termed 'series' romance, and with nothing new in the works at the time, I'd pretty much exhausted my options for where I could submit my work.

For a while I just let it lie. After all, I had other things going on in my life. Writing was a bit of a hobby.

Then about five years ago I decided if I ever had a chance to get a book published, I had to get 'serious' again. I asked a writer friend about her publisher, but as she was not too thrilled with her house, she recommended I check into The Wild Rose Press, a slightly new small press. So, I did, and it turned out to be another one of those good things for my career. With TWRP I've published three full-length novels, a short story, and a free read. I have another mss in a rewriting/revision stage for them, and am working on another short story to submit as well.

So, after that really long story, here's the indecision part. About a year ago, my editor at TWRP wrote me a really, really nice e-mail, saying she thought I was ready to move on to one of the 'bigger' publishers. To say the least, I was thrilled. While I really enjoy writing for TWRP, my dream had always been to see one of my books in the Harlequin/Silhouette rack at my local book store.

To that end, I'm in the process of polishing up another mss that I'll be pitching to an editor from Harlequin at a conference in April. But the thing is, I don't know if Harlequin/Silhouette is the right fit for me. Do I think it would be awesome to see my book in one of their displays? Yes, but I'm not sure if I'm a 'career' writer. I have a career that I love. Meeting deadlines is not easy for me, just from a time stand point. My first priority is, and has to be, my full time job. Writing on a deadline scares the beejeebies out of me.

And, I really, really love writing for TWRP. I've had nothing but good experiences with them: from the owners to the editors to the cover artists to the marketing department...everything has been wonderful. And with e-books becoming more and more popular, even my shorter stories not being in print isn't such a big deal anymore.

That doesn't mean I can't write for someplace else, too, but if I'm happy where I'm at, and it's working for me, why do I want to? TWRP is a good fit for me. And if I'm writing for more than one place, am I going to be stretching myself too thin? Will I be able to do a good job for both, or will one suffer?

But to have my name on a Harlequin book? That's something I've dreamed about since high school. And to have a dream come true is nothing to turn your nose up at.

See? Indecisive. (And long winded...)

And of course this all may be a moot point, if I pitch and at whatever point in the process get a rejection, all of this worry will be for naught. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Indie Publishing

2012-01-11T01:55:00.000-08:00

This could be controversial but here goes!

This week I am about to make a momentous decision – or, at least, I think I’m maybe half way there!

I’ve always balked against Indie publishing – for several reasons:
1) I’ve needed an editor’s approval/acceptance of my work
2) I know I don’t have the technical expertise to format my work
3) I wouldn’t have the first idea how to create a cover for my novel
4) (and I hate to admit to this one!) I’ve tended to think of ‘indie’ publishing as a kind of vanity publishing, putting one’s work online without any professional editorial acceptance or input.

So why am I changing my mind?

First, because over the last couple of years, I’ve finally gained some confidence in myself and my writing. It’s only taken me about 40 years to get to this point! So I’m thinking that maybe I don’t need an editor’s ‘approval’ anymore.

Why not? This takes me back to the sixties. At the time I was reading every romance novel I could find in the local library. I wrote my own romance novel, purely for myself, but then I started to think my novel was as good (if not better?) than a lot of the romances I was reading. To cut a long story short, I submitted it to one of the very few publishers of romance here in the UK (and also the biggest) and it was accepted. This should have given me confidence, but it didn’t, even though they accepted two more of my novels, and their American ‘partners’ published two of them, and one was serialised in a UK women’s magazine.
I’m digressing. The main point is that none of my novels has ever been ‘edited’ by a professional editor. The publisher who accepted my first 3 novels, and another publisher who accepted my 4th novel, published my stories as I’d written them, and more recently, the same has happened with my latest novels. This means I have produced 6 published novels so far without any detailed professional editing or editorial consultation. Conclusion – they must think my stories and my writing are okay!

Secondly, yes, I’m a wimp. I completely balk at formatting my work for publication or trying to work out how to produce a cover (‘artistic’ is the last word you could use to describe me!). I’ve also been aware of some of the problems other writers have had with formatting their work on the various sites there are out there.

However, I have discovered that there are ‘indie’ publishers who do all the formatting AND have artists to design the cover. In fact, they seem to do everything that 'traditional' publishers do regarding the actual publishing process (formatting, cover design etc). So that covers points 2 and 3 above.

Thirdly – vanity publishing? There are plenty of vanity publishers who charge thousands of pounds/dollars to produce someone’s book. I have no intention of approaching one of these. However, there are also the ‘indie’ publishers who don’t charge any advance fees, either for e-books or printed books. It seems there are very few differences between many ‘small’ traditional publishers and ‘indie’ publishers – although I’m sure someone will correct me if that’s wrong. The most significant differences I’ve seen is that the indie ones seem to get things done a lot faster, charge less for their e-books and print books (which hopefully means more sales) and give the author a larger percentage of royalties. The indie publishers don’t offer much in the way of editing (but then neither do some of the traditional ones) and, apart from some advertising on their websites, they don’t do any publicity – but I’m used to having to do that anyway!

For all these reasons, I may be going the ‘indie’ way. It’s actually quite a scary decision to make, but, as I said at the start, I’m half-way there.

I Is for Imagery

2012-01-10T03:37:00.001-08:00

Imagery is painting pictures with words in order to make thereading experience more vivid for readers. You want your readers to see whatyour characters see, hear what they hear and feel what they feel. It’s showingemotions in concrete ways.

According to the dictionary (Webster’s II New RiversideUniversity Dictionary), it’s “Mental pictures or images; the use of vividdescription or figures of speech in speaking or writing to produce mentalimages; A metaphoric representation, as in music, art, or drama; Representativeimages, especially statues or icons; The art of making such images.”

How we create imagery in our writing takes skill andpractice. Sometimes it involves showing, rather than telling. It’s the use, butnot the overuse, of adjectives and adverbs to draw our verbal pictures. Itrequires us to avoid clichés and trite phrases, and to create new ways ofdescribing mundane things.

Here’s an opening paragraph I created for mywork-in-progress. Tell me what you think of the imagery.

Rain poured onto the Manhattan sidewalk insilver satin sheets. Cars splashed water onto the ankles of passersby withenough force to soak through the pant legs of irritated men and puddle insidethe high-heeled shoes of unprepared women caught in the storm. Umbrellasprodded one another for space as people rushed from offices to subways, huddledin doorways and flagged down already full taxis in futile efforts to avoid therain. Muttered curses at the weather mingled with hoarse apologies as commutersbumped against one another in their hurry to get somewhere—anywhere—dry. Butthose sounds were muted by the shuck-shuck-shuck of windshield wipers and thesqueal of brakes on slippery streets.

I is for Internal Conflict

2012-01-08T15:48:00.001-08:00

Every good story has a lead character with internal conflict. In a good romance, the internal conflict revolves around the development of her relationship with the hero (or the hero’s developing relationship with the heroine).

Internal Conflict has been defined as, “An emotional resistance within a character which makes him or her hesitate or be unwilling to enter into, continue with, or commit to a romantic to sexual relationship.” (Evan Marshall)

A woman whose policeman husband was killed responding to a domestic fight call might never want to become involved with another cop. Her internal conflict is further complicated by her young son, who has suffered from nightmares since his father’s death. She fears he will be traumatized again if he becomes close with a father figure who has a dangerous job. Her justifiable concern for her son is her rationale for not loving again. Then she meets a nice man who turns out to be a firefighter. Her son likes him. He likes her son. But the woman is terrified by the possibility that he could be killed on the job. How she resolves her inner conflict is the interesting, inner subplot of the story.

A college student is abandoned by a callously unfaithful girlfriend. He grows up to be love ‘em and leave ‘em dater. One by one, his friends settle down and marry. He wants them to keep hanging out, watch Sunday football games in his man-cave, prowl bars on Friday nights for one-night stands. His refusal to let any woman get close enough to hurt him again leads to outer complications. At first, his friends try to play matchmaker because all Joe needs is a good woman. But he resists, and they grow apart. He tries to find younger friends, but eventually looks foolish. He gets a woman boss. His inner fear will be tested and trialed through the story as he lets women try to love him. Eventually he’ll find love, because this is a romance. (He could stay a playboy if the story is a tragedy.)

Without inner conflict, a story lacks emotional depth. Each of us has some deep-seated fear we have to overcome in life. This is part of why we come to earth, I believe. To progress, to heal, to grow stronger, braver, happier. To love.

Friday Friend Emma Lai

2012-01-06T02:59:00.000-08:00

It's our pleasure to welcome the very talented Emma Lai to Heroines with Hearts today. Emma has a great backshelf, a new release coming soon, and many other projects in the works as well. It's a delight to have her here today.

Tell us about yourself.
I like challenge, and there’s little I find more challenging than writing (with the main exception being the raising of my now two year old son). The characters demand their stories be told and nag me incessantly until I comply. The characters are very insistent about me remaining faithful to their adventures. As a result, I’ve crossed many genres, levels of heat and delved into areas I’d never thought to.

Tell us about your “Mates of the Guardians” series.
The Guardians are from a planet named Elysia, and their purpose is to protect the interests of their society, which takes them into not only our past, present and future timelines, but also those of other worlds...though none of those stories have been published yet. The Mates of the Guardians series presents short snapshots of how this set of amazing men and women met their significant others. However, a mystery presented itself in the first story that was never resolved, and while it’s barely touched upon in the second story, the third picks the thread up with a new twist added.

The third book in the series, His Capture, Her Rescue is due out soon. Are you planning any more in the series?
There’s at least one more story in the series, but I had originally envisioned five. There’s also a spin-off series that’s more involved in the works. I’ve completed the initial story, but I need to go back and revisit it in light of all that has occurred in the Mates and all that is yet to occur.

What made you decide to write a series?
I never really set out to start a series, but once the world was developed, a set of characters appeared to populate the world, and I felt each of them deserved a happily ever after. As a reader, I’ve often wondered about secondary characters, and in my worlds, if the secondary characters speak to me, I endeavor to tell their story.
I will admit I have a new series coming this year under the pen name L.J. Maisen that I intentionally set out to write as a serial. I’m hoping it will be well-received.

What got you interested in writing?
Since elementary school when I read 200+ books a year, I’ve always been an avid reader, and I’ve always loved writing. I love creating new worlds and the people to inhabit them. Aside from school projects and technical writing, I’d never thought to try my hand at fiction. (Let’s ignore the failed teen romance I attempted when I was ten, because what the heck did I know about romance?) Then I took a year off to finish up my master degree and was reading a lot. I told my husband I thought I could write, and he dared me to deliver. Now, here I am, three years later with multiple titles under my belt.

How long have you been writing?
I wrote my first book in fourth grade. It was titled Glartian the Martian. Then there was the failed romance in fifth grade. Between then and 2008, it was all poetry, school papers and technical documents for work. So, one could say either I’ve been writing for almost 30 years or 3 years. It all depends on how one measures.

What inspired you to write your first book?
My husband’s guilty pleasure is reading romance, the spicy ones preferably. He’s also a fan of science fiction. I write mainly for him though now that I have a wider readership, I try to satisfy their desires as well.

What comes first, plot or characters?
The opening scene comes first. I’m not a plotter. My stories almost one and all come from a dream sequence in which the characters act out the opening scene. They also deliver a rough outline, though the hardest stories to write are the ones where they just give me the opening. I have multiple works in progress because I’m still waiting for the characters to tell me the rest of their story.

How do you come up with the titles for your books?
I try to pick out the main idea of the story and play around with catchy words or phrases. A thesaurus comes in real handy. In some instances, I’ll go back into the story and work the title in or an obvious link to the title in one or two places.

What is the hardest part of writing?
Waiting. Waiting for the characters to tell me how to finish their stories. Waiting for critique partners to get me their feedback. (Sad because they all diligently respond in a week or less.) Waiting for response to the query. Waiting for edits. Can you tell I’m not the most patient of people?

Do you have an interesting writing quirk?
Aside from the voices in my head? Nope. Not that I can think of.

What have you learned from being a published author that you wish you knew before you were published?
I’ve honestly enjoyed the journey just as it has occurred. If I could go back, the only thing I might do differently is use a separate pen name for my erotica, but it’s too late for that. (I’ve already told the editor who first made the suggestion that I’d wished I listened to her.)

What’s the best writing advice you ever received/read?
Stay true to your story. If you don’t love it then you’ll hate it by the time it’s through edits. Edits take a lot of effort, and sometimes time. You read and reread a story until you’re sick of it. Writing what you love makes the journey more bearable.

Any advice for new writers?
Stay true to your story, but also remember once you’ve sold it, editors are trying to help you make it the best it can be for the target audience.

You seem to have a lot of ‘irons in the fire’ these days. Your blog shows you’re working on three manuscripts: including a rewrite of “Not His Usual Type” and a sequel to “Twice is Not Enough”. Plus you have a new release coming soon. How do you keep up with everything and keep everything straight?
I could say that I use the exceptional organization skills I developed as a project manager, that I have a lovely spreadsheet with due dates and timelines. But, I don’t. I take things one thing at a time. Whatever has the nearest due date is normally what gets worked on first. As for writing, I work on whatever interests me at the moment. This is why I have dozens of works in progress. One day, I might apply myself and get a little more organized, but that day is not today.

What is one question you wish an interviewer would ask you?
How’s it feel to be a NYT best-selling author? I think I’m a bit a way from that though.

Where can we find you and your books?
Website: http://www.emmalaiwrites.com
Blog: http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com
Facebook: AuthorEmmaLai
Twitter: @emmalaiwrites

Emma, thanks so much for joining us today! Good luck with all of your projects...I know I can't wait to see/read the fruition of them.

Seven Things About Debra

2012-01-05T02:54:00.000-08:00

1) I met my husband at a country bar. We learned to dance together and fell in love. The first dance at our wedding was the first song we ever slow danced to at the bar.

2) I think John Deere tractors are sexy.

3) I am fascinated by the Civil War, but am too afraid of the research to write a historical novel about it. Perhaps some day since I actually have an idea for the plot.

4) My husband and I converted and renovated a 1920s two-flat into a single family home: a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into the process, but we can truly say the house is ours.

5) My 'list' (a la F.R.I.E.N.D.S.) includes - in no particular order: Jon Bon Jovi, Matthew McConaughey, Alexander Skarsgard, Ashton Kutcher, and Robert Pattinson.

6) I spent my 40th birthday at Disney World. I love Mickey!

7) If it's not country music, I won't listen to it. Brad, Kenny, Carrie, Toby, and Eric (Church) are my favorites.

Debra St. John
Sultry romance. Sexy heroes. Spunky heroines.
www.debrastjohnromance.com

7 Facts about Paula

2012-01-04T01:34:00.000-08:00

1. My earliest celebrity crush was – dare I admit it? – Pat Boone.

2. When I was 14, I wrote a play about Lady Jane Grey, the doomed 9-day Queen of England in the 16th century. We performed it with my Girl Guide company. My main error was having Lady Jane sipping a cup of tea when tea wasn’t introduced to England until about 100 years later. Hmm, hope my research is better now!

3. I’ve been to every battlefield of the 15th century Wars of the Roses in England – it took over a year to get to all 17 of them. Some are now built over, but others remain as they would have been at the time, and one was in the middle of a pig farm. We avoided the pigs but tramped through thick mud to reach and photograph the battlefield monument.

4. I’ve directed about 15 musicals with teenagers, ranging from the Wizard of Oz (my first effort) to Guys and Dolls. My favourite was Calamity Jane, but look back at my post on June 2010 to see some of the ‘calamities’ that happened during this show. http://heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com/2010/06/funny-moments_30.html

5. I have a great-great grandfather who was a sea-captain but was fired in 1860 for being drunk in charge of his ship (yes, it’s all there in the minutes of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company). According to family legend, he then ran the blockade during the American Civil War, bringing cotton from the Confederacy back to the cotton mills in England.

6. One line of my family tree led me to landed (and rich!) gentry in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and from there back eventually to King Edward I of England – but the blue blood in my veins is now somewhat diluted (although William the Conqueror was my 35xgreat-grandfather!). Now, where’s my share of all that land my ancestors owned in the past??

7. In 1999, my ex-son-in-law (a computer engineer) brought me a modem to link my computer to the internet – and I said ‘Why do I need to be linked to the internet?’ Ha ha!

Seven Things About Jennifer

2012-01-03T04:36:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Katheryn Lane for our award! Seven things aboutme? I’ve been interviewed a lot lately, and to be honest, I’m a little sick ofmyself JSo, I’m going to try to come up with facts about me that haven’t been floatedaround ad nauseum.

I’man only child. Family lore says that my mom originally wanted six kids, butdecided against it after having me. I prefer to think that they realized theycouldn’t do any better; my parents have been suspiciously silent on thismatter. I also joke around with people and say that’s why I’m so terrible atsharing, but I think I’m actually pretty good at it—and hope my friends agree!
Iwas a ballet dancer for many years as a child and spent hours and hours anddays upon days in toe shoes. As a result, my toes are funny looking and myhusband loves to tease me about them. If he’d spent as much time as I diddancing on his toes a) he probably wouldn’t have been interested in marrying meand b) his toes would be funny-shaped too.
My favorite quote is from Winnie the Pooh:You must remember this: You're braver than you believe, andstronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Getting to dessert is theonly reason I eat meals. If I could have dessert after breakfast, I’d neverforget to eat that meal again. At restaurants, I will often ask to see thedessert menu ahead of time so that I know how much room to save. Myfather-in-law is the only one who understands that.
WhenI was in college, I kept a package of plastic spoons in my car so that if myfriends and I (okay, mostly me) ever got a craving for ice cream, we wouldalways be prepared. And before you think I’m nuts, I went to college in St.Louis, where most places closed by 9 p.m., except for grocery stores. Why Icouldn’t purchase a package of spoons from the grocery store, along with theice cream, is beyond me.
Iused to ride, train and show horses. Of all the activities from my childhoodthat I’ve given up, I miss that one the most. It made me feel like I could fly.
Ireally, really, really want to learn how to boost a car. And by this, I mean dothat thing I see on TV where they find some wires underneath the steeringwheel, rub them together and the car starts. I don’t want to be a criminal; Ijust think it would be a cool thing to do.

That’s all folks!

More than 7 things you don’t know about me, but could find interesting. Or amusing.

2012-01-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

Katheryn Lane gave Heroines with Hearts a lovely award with the stipulation that each principal had to share seven interesting facts about herself. Here are mine:
1. My dad worked for the CIA.
2. I’ve fished in the Red Sea. (Didn’t catch anything.)
3. I went to an all-girl’s high school.
4. I’m an astrologer. (Swear by it.)
5. I went to college to be a physicist.
6. I became a vegetarian so I could cook proper meals for my baby daughter, who could not digest meat. (She’s still a vegetarian. I still like bacon.)
7. I live on a biodynamic farm with cows and chickens. (So much for being a physicist.)
8. I can, freeze, or dehydrate most of my family’s food.
9. I’ve seen gnomes two times, both unexpectedly. When I intellectualized what was happening, they vanished.
10. I’ve discovered that what scares me the most is what I’m supposed to do.

H is for Hazards

2011-12-22T03:25:00.000-08:00

Like Paula mentioned in her post yesterday, most romance readers expect a 'happily ever after' (or at least a happy ending) to their books. But before that occurs, all sorts of things can, and usually do, happen to the characters along the way, making the reader wonder how in the world the HEA can ever occur.

The big resolve, of course, is usually the emotional conflict. In a suspense, an external conflict must be solved as well. Something that often gets in the hero and heroine's ways are the hazards they face as the story progresses.

But suppose we turn those hazards around and use them as a way to get the hero and heroine together, rather than keep them apart?

Having the hero play the...well, for lack of a better word...hero, is one way to get the heroine to begin to trust him. If she can trust him with her life...sometimes that helps lead her to realize she can trust him with her heart as well.

I've used a 'hazard' in several of my books.

In one it was as simple as the heroine witnessing another character's injury, which brought to mind bad memories for her. It was in the hero's arms where she found comfort and rest from her fears, and reminders of the past love they'd once shared, just waiting to be rediscovered.

In another my heroine's canoe tips over and it is the hero who pulls her from the water, saving her life. This allows her to see she can trust him with her body, and get beyond intimacy issues she has, which eventually leads to her trusting him with her heart.

In another, my heroine twists her ankle, and it is the hero's care and comfort that allow her to see past the 'fun-loving' persona he puts on to the kind and compassionate man beneath: a man she can fall in love with.

Hazards befall our characters all the time. Using them can be one way to establish intimacy and trust between your hero and heroine.

Until next time,

Happy Reading and Merry Christmas!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Happy Ever After?

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Most (all?) romance publishers insist that a romance must have a happy ending. Most romance readers read romance as a kind of escapism, knowing that all will end happily for the main characters, which sadly may not happen in ‘real’ life.

It’s interesting to note that ‘romance’ in the grand tradition, like Tristan and Isolde, Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights, Gone With the Wind, Love Story, often didn’t have happy endings. It’s the tragedy in these stories which make them memorable.

However, women (and yes, it is usually women) pick up a paperback or download an e-book romance, and expect it to have a happy ending.

But is a happy ending the same as a ‘happy ever after’ ending?

Happy-ever-after conjures up an image of the hero and heroine living on Cloud Nine for the rest of their live, with a perfect marriage, a perfect house and perfect children. I don’t think romance readers necessarily want or visualise this.

Romance authors don’t write ‘fairy-tales’. They don’t wave a magic wand so that Cinderella and Prince Charming, after just one evening at a Palace Ball, are reunited and live ‘happily-ever-after’. I never did hold out much hope for that couple’s future together anyway!

Instead, readers of romance want the hero and heroine to work through their problems and conflicts and in the process learn more about themselves and about each other. They want a convincing and satisfying resolution of all those problems, because they feel the hero and heroine have worked hard to deserve it.

Maybe the romance author's job is to bring the hero and heroine to a place where the potential for happiness is restored. This is the happy ending.

They are on their way to creating a life together in which their new understanding of each other will help them resolve future problems. They’re not going to live ‘happily-ever-after’ (i.e. have perfect, easy lives from now on), but, at the ‘happy ending’ of the story, they are better equipped to develop a lasting and mutually satisfying relationship because of the struggles they've won and the life lessons they've learned.

PS I shall be away waving to Mickey Mouse in Florida when you read this, so apologies in advance for not being able to reply to any comments.

I wish a very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate this festival, and a Happy Holiday to all who don’t. See you all again in the New Year!

Heroes and the Writers Who Create Them

2011-12-20T09:56:00.001-08:00

What is your idea of the perfect man? Is he the strong,silent type, like John Wayne? Is he tuned into his emotions? Is he tall, short,fat, thin? Well-built or well-intentioned? What does he do for a living? Whatdoes he do for fun? How organized is he? What does he look like? Is he anarm-chair sports enthusiast or an athlete? What music does he listen to? Whatare his religious and political views? What’s his relationship with his mother?

If this sounds like a questionnaire on a dating website,it’s not. But it should. Because just as it’s important for someone to knoweverything about the man they’re interested in, it’s equally important for thewriter to know everything about her hero. And as a female writer, that knowledgeis essential, because we can’t walk in their shoes.

Most romance writers are women. We can easily relate to ourheroines. Sometimes we create them in our own image; other times in the imageof a friend or family member. Even if we create them out of the blue, I thinkwomen are easy for women to write. Men, less so. We can create them based onour favorite movie star, or our boyfriends, husbands, fathers or sons. Butwe’re not them. And therefore it’s harder to make them as realistic as our heroines.

In order to make them real, we have to know everything aboutthem. That’s why the questions at the start of this post sound like somethingwe’d ask on a first or second date. The more information we have about ourheroes, the more well-rounded they are and the better our readers can relate tothem.

Those 3-D heroes also make writing our stories easier. Wedon’t have to wonder what they’d do next or why they behaved as they did? Wedon’t have to wonder what they’d think of something (although our heroinemight). We know them well enough to have all the answers. So the next time yourstory flounders and you don’t know what to do next, interview your hero. Seewhere his story takes you.

Ho Ho Hopelessness

2011-12-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

This week I'm celebrating hopelessness. You know--the paragraphs in a story when the heroine loses everything she's worked for. The precise point where she believes she's a complete failure. This is the black moment, when all hope is lost.
Without this critical plot point, there can be no redemption, no summoning of strength as the main character regroups and overcomes, no happy ending. This is when the reader KNOWS the time invested in your story has been worth it.
The word count devoted to the point of hopelessness varies on the story. If the hero is clinging to a scraggly root protruding from the side of a cliff, and the bad-guy sheriff repeatedly whacks the hero's hand with a 2X4, the hero has a few seconds to prepare to die. Then the sheriff stops to savor his impending triumph. He bends down with the 2X4 extended and gloats. The hero summons his strength, yanks on the board, and pulls the sheriff over for a justice-prevails swan dive.
In a contemporary romance, the heroine has lost her job. (She's already lost her man.) She reflects as she packs her belongings into her beat-up pickup--she was a fool to think the cash-strapped city would grant a permanent home to her non-profit community garden when the mega-corporation was willing to pay millions of do-good dollars for the site. Her charity boss knows she slept with the mayor and believes she'll violate any ethics rule to get what she wants. What they don't know is how much she loves Mr. Mayor, despite the insults she hurled at the showdown city council meeting.
She did things wrong. She'll move to another big city, find another rundown neighborhood and start a new garden project. Start by picking up broken bottles and used needles. She's rebounding from defeat and is ready to try again, and her inner manifesto on how to be stronger and wiser.
She goes back into her apartment for the last box. As she drives past the verdant garden, people of all ages from the neighborhood are blocking the street brandishing homemade 'Save our Garden,' and 'We have the Vote' signs. TV news crews are everywhere. Someone recognizes her and urges her out of her truck. The mayor (who is up for re-election) is in a stand-off with the community. She's pushed to the fore.

The music can't swell in a paperback. Words have to convey abject loss so we can get to the triumph. The HEA needs hopelessness.

Welcome Deborah Riley-Magnus

2011-12-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Deborah Riley-Magus! I'm impressed with the depth of her practical knowledge about marketing. Read on....

A LOVE AFFAIR WITH … PUBLICITY!

Ahhhh romance! How wonderful! There’s nothing like a beautifully written love story brought to life in words only an author can conjure. The muse sings, the characters crackle on the page and the magic is palpable. Nothing can ruin such a story, right?

Well, yes, something can … the lack of sales can destroy not only the story but the writer. If no one buys your book, what’s the point of writing another? *sigh*

Hi, I’m Deb Riley-Magnus and I’m thrilled to be here at Heroines with Hearts blog. Ana asked me to answer the standard questions – where my ideas and insights come from, what a reader will gain from my book, and where to get it. I’ll be happy to answer those questions … but I’m even more excited about passing on a few useable tips for authors looking for ways to improve their book sales.

First, I should explain that my book, Finding Author Success: Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power Within Your Manuscript is obviously a non-ficton, but I’m really a fiction writer. Well … a fiction writer with over twenty years of background in marketing, promotions and publicity. It was my first career (I had another one in there as a culinary chef – long, yummy story), and throughout my life and professional experiences, marketing promotions and publicity have been my most powerful tools for success.

When I began the process of writing and seeking publication, I did what all writers do, got myself a twitter and facebook account, began blogging and watched what the writing world was doing. I was shocked at how minimal a majority of the marketing strategies were among the authors chit-chattering there. What to me was second nature, seemed foreign to authors, and as I blogged, loading my entries with as much value added information as I could, I found myself becoming The Author Success Coach. Clients and random authors asked questions that led me to teaching online and live workshops and eventually writing Finding Author Success.

Marketing, promotions and publicity are very basic techniques but what really got me excited was how important it was to carefully tweak these skills to serve all the various directions an author can go with their book. The publishing industry has been changing so much and so quickly, authors needed to understand that their sales success is solidly in their own hands. Big publishing houses no longer do the major marketing and promotion for their authors, and small independents simply can’t afford it. Authors? Well, most of us are pretty poor, so what can an author do with simple marketing, promotions and publicity skills to shift the world in their favor? BE CREATIVE!

In the book I explain the simple techniques, then take things a lot further, helping an author understand that no matter how these cut backs in support from publishers might affect you, no matter how your published or self-published, no matter your genre or target audience, there is a fantastic creative way to approach the market that WILL help you and your book stand apart! We’re not talking about paying professionals to do things for you either, we’re talking about easy to implement, inventive ways to burst onto the market.

Okay, so that’s my background. I love taking super inventive approaches to everything, (maybe someday I’ll be invited to come back and talk about my fiction). Now, I’d like to talk about a powerful way to take your book from just another romance, to THAT ROMANCE everyone’s talking about. It has to do with not only reaching out and talking to additional prospective reader audiences … but connecting with them in ways other authors may not be exploring.

Publicity. Publicity is the act or device designed to attract public interest, specifically information with news value as a means of gaining public attention or support.

Well, obviously there’s little newsworthy about another romance on the shelves, but is there something newsworthy inside your book that can spark the interest of a few more book buyers you haven’t approached yet? Let’s explore …

Let’s imagine that your book is a historic romance about a woman who falls in love with a sea captain. Let’s imagine that her father is the lighthouse keeper and the lighthouse is elemental to the story – perhaps she watched for him there during the day, maybe she watches the sea at night from the rocky shores, following the lighthouse beam as it crosses the water.

Okay. How would you take a publicity direction with this book? A few suggestions include:

• Offering a portion of the proceeds from the book sales to a lighthouse organization that refurbishes the historic structures
• Organizing a lighthouse walking tour of a seaside city, reading a small excerpt at each location, all proceeds to support lighthouse maintenance in that city
• Creating a charity for some needy group (homeless shelters, military wives and children support, organizations to protect dunes or seaside wildlife) and give it a lighthouse title or logo

Alright, let’s say your romance is of the paranormal nature. Perhaps you have a handsome werewolf somewhere in there. You could:
• Offer a portion of your book sales to wolf or wildlife protection organizations
• The ASPCA
• Sponsor a contest, “submit your dog’s picture and tell us about his personality and the one that most inspires the next werewolf character for my book will win you fill in the blank”

When planning your publicity approach to the market, think it through carefully. Make sure it connects with your book, make sure you let the charity know you’re supporting them, and make sure EVERYONE knows that you’re supporting a cause. Announce it on your website, your facebook page, on twitter and if possible, make sure it’s printed on the back cover of your book! E-books? No problem, place your charity support information right up front on the first few pages. Send out press releases to your local papers, online papers and newsletters related to the charity.

Keep this simple and just dig deep into your book. Is there a cancer survivor there? Does your story address a relevant issue, like child abuse? Is your heroine a teacher? Support school program funding. Is she a dentist or dental assistant? Support dental care for homeless children. Uncover the connections and you will uncover a larger audience because trust me … if someone supports a charity and they discover that your book also supports that charity, it’s a win/win!

Oh, and by the way …
A portion of “Finding Author Success” sales is donated to the American Literacy Council. The American Literacy Council’s main purpose is to convey information on new solutions, innovative technologies, and tools for engaging more boldly in the battle for literacy.

Questions? Ideas? I’m here to share! And HEY EVERYONE … I’d like to offer a FREE 10 Tools for Author Success downloadable handbook to all blog guests! Just go to http://theauthorsuccesscoach.com/ and hit the button for your FREE downloadable PDF!

If you’d like to win a copy of Finding Author Success, just comment here at the blog, ask questions or just say you’re interested and Ana will have a drawing for the winner.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Finding Author Success: Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power Within Your Manuscript.

Even the odds for authors with this one-of-a-kind guide to marketing success! Deborah Riley-Magnus takes tried and true marketing, publicity and promotional strategies and tailors them for the unique needs of today’s author. Every element is outlined and explained for easy implementation. You will learn:

• How to develop a functional and strong book business plan
• The power of developing effective, targeted platforms
• The basics of publicity, marketing and promotion
• How cross marketing works and why it’s magic for an author
• How to personalize it all to your book

Finding Author Success will take away the mystery about gaining sales and increasing exposure for your book and you as a professional author.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Deborah Riley-Magnus is an author and an Author Success Coach. She has a twenty-seven year professional background in marketing, advertising and public relations as a writer for print, television and radio. She writes fiction in several genres as well as non-fiction. She’s lived on both the east and west coast of the United States and has traveled the country widely. She is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and just returned after living in Los Angeles, California for several years.

WHERE DEBORAH RILEY-MAGNUS CAN BE FOUND
I blog - http://rileymagnus.wordpress.com/
I teach - http://theauthorsuccesscoach.com/
I fiction – http://coldincalifornia.com
I write - http://deborahriley-magnus.com/
I suck - http://vampireexplored.wordpress.com/
I play - http://whispersofthemuse.org/
I tweet – http://twitter.com/rileymagnus
I facebook - http://www.facebook.com/deborah.rileymagnus
I should be sooo tired!

BOOK PURCHASE LINKS
Finding Author Success:
Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power Within Your Manuscript.
Amazon Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Author-Success-Discovering-ebook/dp/B0061NW5BC/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320173201&sr=1-3

Amazon Paper
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Author-Success-Deborah-Riley-Magnus/dp/1926760662/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320173201&sr=1-4

B&N Paper and ebook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-author-success-deborah-riley-magnus/1106661344?ean=9781926760667&itm=1&usri=finding%2bauthors%2bsuccess

APPLE
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/finding-author-success/id473774819?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

SONY
http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/deborah-riley-magnus/finding-author-success/_/R-400000000000000525040

G is for GMC

2011-12-15T03:14:00.000-08:00

When I first started writing romance, (My first VERY lame attempts were in High School...I still shudder.) I had no idea there was somewhat of a formula to it. Readers expect certain things from a romance. For example, the happily ever after is absolutely required.

However, getting your hero and heroine there isn't just all sunshine, happiness, romance, and love. Your characters have to have goals. More so, they have to have goals that are in conflict with each other's. And they have to have a reasonable and not contrived motivation for those goals.

Yeesh. Who knew?

In a nutshell; Goal is what your character wants. Motivation is why he/she wants it. And the conflict is why it's going to be a problem in conjunction with the other character(s).

Most writers are probably familiar with Debra Dixon's GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction . (If you're not, you should be!) It's definitely a must for any beginning writer.

Even though I'm not much of a plotter (usually), I always do a simple GMC chart for my hero and heroine before I start a book. It really helps me get some insight into them and figure out where her story, his story, and their story is heading. I tend to figure out the happily ever after part even before writing chapter one, but it's nailing down what happens in the middle where thinking in terms of GMC comes in handy.

If you Google GMC (or Goal Motivation Conflict) you'll get a plethora of worksheets to download or use to help you walk through the steps of giving your characters the goals, motivation, and conflict that will bring your story to life.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Now available: A Christmas to Remember

Goals

2011-12-14T01:21:00.000-08:00

‘They’ tell you that writers should set goals but I’ll start by saying that I don’t usually set specific goals for myself.

I’m aware that many writers decide on word-count or page-count goals - it might be 500 or it might be 5,000 words a day, or it might be a certain number of pages.

What, I wonder, happens when they don’t achieve their goal? Do they feel guilty or frustrated? Do they feel pressured to achieve that magic number of words or pages? Is their writing dictated by the goal rather than by what they’re actually writing? In other words, does the goal become more important than the story? And, maybe the most important point, are they concentrating more on quantity than on quality?

Writing 5,000 words a day means you could complete a 75,000 word novel in 15 days. Even 1,000 words a day would complete it in just over a couple of months. Nice idea! But I can’t work like that. Although I took part in NaNo and completed the ‘goal’ of 50,000 words in a month, I was very aware of how the quality of my writing deteriorated. That story will need a complete re-write.

My ‘goal’ is simply to write the best story I can. Okay, maybe that’s not a ‘measurable’ goal as such - except that I think I CAN measure it. I know when I’ve achieved what I want to achieve, whether it's an emotional experience, a build-up of suspense/tension, or simply a word picture of a scene. I know, too, when something doesn’t ring true and then I work at it until I’m satisfied with it. Sometimes I can write 1,000 words in a day; sometimes I’ll agonise over just 50 words. I once read: For a writer, ‘that’ll do’ is not an option. Maybe my goal is never to say ‘That’ll do.’

I’ll be interested to hear whether you set goals and, if so, what kind of goals?

G is For Gender

2011-12-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

I’m going to add to Ana’s post from yesterday, but I’m goingto take it in a slightly different direction. While she focused on paring downher use of gestures—and it’s definitely something writers should do as they’reediting—I’m going to focus on body language to represent (or misrepresent)gender.

First discussed in the 60s (by my great-uncle, by the way),body language is familiar to everyone. Turn on any police drama and you canusually hear some detective talking about body language, micro-facialexpressions, or some non-verbal cue that gives away an emotion. As writers,those non-verbal cues are a great way for us to show our characters emotions.It’s much more powerful to see our heroine cry than to be told that she’s sad.

But what about using gestures to show the gender of thecharacter? The gestures we, as writers, use for our characters can emphasizetheir masculinity or femininity. For example, the following gestures, are traditionally “masculine”:

· Tense jaw

· Clenched jaw

· Hitting something with one’s fists

· A bobbing Adam’s apple

· Swagger

These gestures are traditionally “female”:

· Pout

· Wrinkled nose

· Wide eyes

· A tongue pressed between one’s lips

· Breathiness

But what if you want to make a point or emphasize aparticular character trait that is outside of the traditional gender role? Cana female character make a “masculine” gesture and still remain true to hercharacter? For example, maybe you have a female character with a very physicaljob, such as working on a farm, or a soldier. In that case, I could easily seeher hitting something with her fists. For a female character that is extremelyfeminine, there might be a psychological reason for her to react in a“masculine” way. The same goes for male characters. You might want to emphasizetheir vulnerability or their “beta” status by giving them a typically “female”gesture.

What do you think?

G is for gestures

2011-12-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

I've been ruthlessly trimming body language from my WIP. This, along with excising the word 'that,' are two good ways to trim a too-high word count.
With the best of intentions, I wrote gestures and mannerisms. My characters grinned, shrugged, grimaced, nodded, and sighed. They eyed or raised their eyebrows, or both. They shook their heads, clenched their fists, balled their fists. Their hearts palpitated before sinking into the pits of their stomachs, a physical impossibility unless they'd just been gored by a berserk rhinoceros.
I realized my body language descriptions often echoed the dialogue: She shook her head. "No."
I'm now adding a few back in. Dialogue usually takes precedence over body language, but a well described gesture can serve a valuable function.
It can serve as a pause for introducing a new train of thought.
It can heighten tension by describing viscerally how love / pain / indecision / fear / agony / waiting / suspecting feels.
It adds drama when one character reads the body language of another and seeing a lie. Or the truth.
Gestures. I'm learning to use them wisely.

F is for Future

2011-12-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest perks about writing/reading romance is the Happily Ever After ending. No matter how much angst our characters go through, we know in the end, even when it seems impossible, everything will be overcome and true love will win out. Our hero and heroine get to walk into the sunset and begin their life together.

After the book closes, however, I kind of want to know more. Oh, I don't want to know if the hero and heroine face any more trials and tribulations, I just want a peek into their lives after the HEA. I want to check in to make sure they're still happy as life goes on. I want to see into the future.

This is where a series comes in handy. In fact, this was part of my motivation for writing one. When I wrote my first book (This Time for Always), I included a secondary cast of characters to be used later on in books of their own. Zach got his story in This Can't Be Love, and I'm in the process of revising Jake's story: "This Feels Like Home".

And while it was definitely fun giving Zach and Jake their own stories, it was just as much fun to peek into my earlier characters' lives in each subsequent story. In Always, (spoilers here!) Logan and Sharlie are unable to have children, but they mention possibly adopting. In Love, I was able to show them in the future with their first adopted child. In Love, Jessica declares her love for Zach, but isn't quite ready to get married. In "Home", I included Zach and Jessica's wedding in one scene. (And we also see Logan and Sharlie with a second child.)

In real life, I don't want to know what the future holds, but for my characters, it's fun to get to peek and see where they wind up after the Happily Ever After.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
A Christmas to Remember - available now.

Forgiveness

2011-12-07T00:12:00.000-08:00

I had something else planned for the ‘F’ word today, but last night I received the final version of the cover of my February release from Whiskey Creek Press, 'Fragrance of Violets'. So I thought I'd let you have the first view of it.

I'm thrilled to bits with it. I think it's fantastic and fabulous!

The title comes from a quotation by Mark Twain: Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

‘Fragrance of Violets’ is a story of two people who need to forgive each other and deal with other issues in their lives where forgiveness is also necessary.

Abbey Seton distrusts men, especially Jack Tremayne who destroyed their friendship when they were teenagers. Ten years later, they meet again. Can they put the past behind them?

Abbey has to forgive not only Jack, but also her father who deserted his family when she was young. Jack holds himself responsible for his fiancée’s death. He’s also hiding another secret which threatens the fragile resumption of his relationship with Abbey.

Will Abbey ever forgive him when she finds out the truth?

It occurs to me that the theme of forgiveness, in one form or other, appears frequently in romance novels. So often our characters hurt (deliberately or unwittingly), misjudge, distrust or believe badly of each other. They then have to learn how to put things right, forgive each other, and in the process learn more about themselves and their faults and foibles, so that they don’t make the same mistakes again.

I wonder just how many romances have the words ‘I’m sorry, I was wrong’ somewhere in them? And, because all romances ended happily ever after, of course, all is eventually forgiven and forgotten.

Frequency, Frequency, Frequency

2011-12-06T04:13:00.001-08:00

Last week, for our “E” entries, Paula talked about editing.One of the things to look for in your manuscript when editing is the frequencywith which you use, or overuse words. My critique partner is great at noticingwhen I use the same word several times in the same series of paragraphs orwithin the same scene. For a creative person, I really should remember to usemy thesaurus more! Overusing words is boring, both for the reader and thewriter. The more varied your vocabulary, the more interesting and specific isyour writing, and the better able the reader is to disappear into your story.

But using a thesaurus is not the only thing you need to varyyour vocabulary. Several years ago, I submitted my manuscript to an editor whowas extremely helpful in her response. She rejected my manuscript, but notbefore providing me a long email with suggestions of how to improve my writingand examples of words to avoid, types of writing to change and resources that Imight find helpful. While her opinion is subjective, her advice was so helpful,and so appreciated, that I use it as a “final check” before sending my work offto editors now.

Frequent use of the words “then,” “that,” “nearly.” “seem”and “which” makes writing sound passive. After I finish writing and editing, Ido a search for those words and try to get rid of them to make the writingactive. The use of adverbs or adjectives ending in “-ly” or “-ing” is also apassive way of writing. Again, I do a search and try to switch them to “-ed.”

Using the same type of phrase too often slows down thepacing of your story. I often do this in dialogue. For example:

"The kids seem tobe having fun together.It’s always so awkward when the parents like each other and the kids can’tstand to be in the same room together."

Lily laughed."Yeah, play dates can be tough. They’re almost as bad as dating. It’sembarrassing when you have to ask some strange mom if their kid wants to playwith yours." She watched as Ally paused in her running to wait for Adam tocatch up. "Ally loves having a little boy to take care of. She’s in lovewith babies and little kids."

"I noticed.Usually when Emily has a play date, I have to keep Adam entertained and out ofher hair, but the three of them seem to really be having fun together." Kim looked at Lily,deciding whether or not to ask her something. Her blue eyes narrowed and takinga deep breath, she resolutely plunged ahead. "So, you mentioned dating.Are you?"

Try to vary how people speak. Although in real life we maysay similar types of things, we shouldn’t do it in writing—be creative!

Ultimately, that manuscript was published, by a differentpublishing house. But A Heart of Little Faith and Skin Deep, and any othermanuscripts that I write are, and will be, stronger due to the advice that thisvery nice and helpful editor provided.

F is for Flashback

2011-12-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

One way to reveal a character's past is through flashbacks. Flashbacks do interrupt the flow of a story, sometimes testing the patience of an editor or reader. Good writers use flashbacks wisely.
Donald Maas says to write the flashback "in dynamic form: Structure it as an action section, complete with failure." In other words, show the encounter exactly as it took place in the past.
Here's how he recommends writing flashbacks: A present-time story cue sets up the flashback. For example, the heroine sees someone who reminds her of a past encounter. She notices his eyes, or hears a voice she'd hoped never to hear again.
Maas recommends writing two 'had' sentences to take the reader into the past. Then write the flashback in simple past tense terms. Use two 'had' sentences to signal the end of the flashback sequence and pick up the present story.
"Keep flashbacks as brief as possible; trim it to its most pertinent action. If it must run on for more than a couple of pages, split it into two or more flashbacks, bringing us back to the present story in between."
Most importantly, insert the flashback in a relatively quiet moment of the story. Interrupting a dramatic or high action scene with a flashback is not advisable.

Welcome Friday Friend Kellie Kamryn

2011-12-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

We're so thrilled to have the multi-talented Kellie Kamryn with us here today. So, without further ado...

Tell us about yourself.
Where do I even begin? I was a gymnastics instructor for 25 years, but have always written for myself. I self-published a collection of poetry a few years ago, and decided to tackle my dream of writing a romance novel. I did, but it sucked! Thankfully, I’ve gotten better since then as evidenced by my 3 releases this past fall.

Tell us about Pleasure Island.
Pleasure Island was the first new piece I wrote after I separated from my husband. It’s about a woman finding herself again after divorce. She goes on vacation and ends up not where she thought she’d be! However, she ends up finding so much more and it’s my wish for those who have lost love to have faith that they will find it again.

What got you interested in writing?
I’ve always kept journals as a kid with short stories, poetry and life observations. My mom always read to us as kids so books have always been a big part of my life. They still are! My kids have hundreds of books, we love visiting the book store and library, and of course I have my own private collection – book shelf and on my ereader!

How long have you been writing?
To be published, I’d say the last five years or so I’ve taken it very seriously. I figured it’s now or never! I don’t want to have any regrets that I didn’t try. So far, so good!

What inspired you to write your first book?
A “what if” idea. That’s where all my stories come from – just this question what if this happened and there was this person… and a story just kind of blossoms from there.

What comes first, plot or characters?
HA! I am definitely not a plotter! I’ve tried that but it frustrated me to no end because as I wrote the story, I never stuck to it. My characters would come alive and give me something totally different and usually better than what I originally came up with. I tend to develop characters and dialogue between them. I love human interaction, so that’s kind of where my stories start and then I create the scenario around that.

How do you come up with the titles for your books?
My titles on the first try are always lame! LOL But I’m kind of weird that I can’t not have a title when I start. At some point before I write “The End” something about the story makes me say, “Yeah – that’s it!” So far none of my publishers have changed any of my titles. One of my erotic pieces (a comedy actually) Monkeys, Sex and Other Birthday Surprises had a lame title. I changed it to that one, and at first the publisher suggested we change it because it was kind of long and the whole monkey thing might make people think sex with animals, LOL. I would have changed it, but a few other people thought the title was different and catchy, and that it made them laugh. That’s what I wanted. So far, readers have said that the title made them curious enough to buy it. Even better are the rave reviews I’m getting on that quirky piece.

What is the hardest part of writing?
Not really the writing itself, but find the TIME to write. I’m a busy mom to 4 kids and the promotion for books (plus having 3 released within a month) is more than I thought it would be. I have so many stories that want to come out, but finding time to write them all, plus edit, etc. is a struggle. I just try to take a breather and remember there is more to my life. When I’m meant to tell another story, I will. (Doesn’t mean I don’t have notebooks full of notes on stories I want to write!)

Do you have an interesting writing quirk?
Probably that I have to have a title to begin a story. I hate seeing “Document” at the top of my screen. Even if it’s lame, I feel like I’ve got the beginning of something. I know – I’m weird…

What have you learned from being a published author that you wish you knew before you were published?
How much you have to promote your own work! I’m not complaining, because I have the opportunity to live my dream and I’m loving that people are buying my books. But it was a bit of a shock to realize how much time it could take up. It’s a good thing I love talking to people! (As you can see from some of my long-winded answers, I never shut up, LOL)

What’s the best writing advice you ever received/read?
A few years ago, and I tell this story all the time, I picked up one of Eloisa James’ books at the library. Absolutely loved it. It was at a time when I’d written my 1st book but wasn’t getting anywhere in the industry because I didn’t know much about it. I emailed her, gushed about her books and then dared to ask her if she had any advice for newbie writers. She wrote back and told me about Romance Writers of America, how I shouldn’t give up because romance is the biggest selling genre in the world, etc. I was in awe that she’d take the time to give me that small piece of advice and encouragement. Recently, I met her again and had the opportunity to tell her this story and how much it’s helped me. Well, voila – 3 books out so far and more in the future!

Any advice for new writers?
I say this all the time – DON’T GIVE UP. KEEP LEARNING. If you want to do this bad enough, find a way.

Coming early next year are the first books in your “Love and Balance” series. I love the concept of involving gymnastics (a big part of your life) into the stories. Can you tell us a little about that?
I haven’t read any gymnastics romances and I wanted to tap into something that would be different, so I created a series around the sport I’ve been involved in for most of my life. Tom Welling of Smallville fame, came to me in a dream and whispered the story idea to me. Jensen Ackles also visited while I slept and whispered another idea to me. They both sort of star in books 1 & 3, LOL Book 2’s hero was inspired by someone I saw at a school assembly and I went, “Who is that?” And then his character was born, albeit with a different personality and profession.
Book 1 – Rebound – An award-winning choreographer must face the only man she’s ever loved then lost when they are teamed up to work together at a gymnastics camp for Olympic hopefuls.
Book 2 – The Perfect Score - The new head coach has barely gotten her beams in alignment when she’s threatened with a lawsuit by a father for refusing to train his brat of a daughter.
These books are different than my erotic novellas. I mean, there is “gymnast sex”, so if you want to know if gymnasts make better lovers, you’ll have to read them to find out! But I’d label them more contemporary romance, rather than erotic. Who knows? My editor might want me to change that!

What made you decide to write a series?
I wrote all 3 books within about six months. As I wrote the first one, the idea came to me for the second, and when I wrote the second, the idea came for the third. I have plans for a fourth, but that’ll be a while. All books are stand alone, but I took a character from the previous one and created their own unique story based on issues that could come up in a gymnastics setting.

What is one question you wish an interviewer would ask you?
I don’t know! How tall are you? LOL People hear my voice and think I’m so much taller than I am, but I’m quite tiny. I’m small but tough!

Where can we find you and your books?
www.kelliekamryn.com for latest releases and buy links. On the site are links for Twitter and Facebook!
www.romancedivine.com for GOING FOR GOLD – erotic novella involving a cheerleader coach and a gymnastics coach after a staff Christmas party.
www.secretcravingspublishing.com for MONKEYS, SEX AND OTHER BIRTHDAY SURPRISES - an erotic comedy
PLEASURE ISLAND http://www.wilderroses.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=848

Kellie, it's been so great having you here today! Thanks for answering all of our questions so we could get to know you a little bit better! (And can I say I love the title: "Monkeys, Sex and Other Birthday Surprises"? I'm so glad that one was a keeper!)

E is for Euphemisms and Emotion

2011-12-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

Okay...I'm cheating a little here and taking two E words at once. However, since I'm the last poster of the week, I won't be taking a word away from anyone else, and the two words are related...at least in the case of this post.

Let's start with euphemisms.

It's no secret that I'm a 'spicy' writer. I prefer to read books where the bedroom door is left wide open, so naturally I write books with the bedroom door wide open. Sometimes there's not even a door: my hero and heroine might be out by the creek, or in the back of a truck, or on a beach. I like detailed love scenes. However, I don't like my love scene to be a science anatomy lesson. This pulls me right out of the moment. Thus, the euphemism. It's amazing how many ways there are to refer to a man's "stuff" without using a technical term. I think the most technical I've ever gotten is using "erection" (Hey, another E word!), and even that I wasn't sure about, but it wound up working okay in the context of the scene. Euphemisms can be used with women, too. Sometimes it's definitely an exercise in creativity to come up with ones I haven't used before, because, believe me, the thesaurus is no use in this department!

So, all in all, I have this part of the love scene down.

What seems to be trickier for me is getting the emotional aspect. (See? I told you the words tied together.) We had 'hot night' at my RWA meeting the other night (A night specifically set aside for critiquing love scenes.) and one of the comments made about the scene I brought was there was a lot of stage direction, but the feelings needed to be deeper. I really am aware of this, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

For me, it's much easier to come up with the euphemism words and phrases than it is to come up with the emotional phrases during a love scene. Because after all, there's that whole, 'show don't tell' thing to deal with, too.

Anybody willing to share any phrases they've used to show emotion in their stories? 'Cause to be honest, I'm stumped.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Editing

2011-11-30T00:46:00.000-08:00

Last week I wrote about the first draft of a novel, and the work you then need to do before submitting it.

One good piece of advice I’ve read is to do nothing for a week or so. Catch up on all the housework you’ve been ignoring, go pull up some weeds from the garden, treat yourself to a lunch or dinner with friends – whatever will keep you away from your novel for a while. You’re never going to be completely objective about it, but after a break from the intensity of creating it, you can come back to it with fresh eyes.

What Next? You may already know where there are weaknesses in structure or characterisation, so the first thing is to get these right. Sometimes you need to incorporate an extra scene, or change one you’ve already written. I’ve also had to layer in (naturally and unobtrusively!) more details about a secondary character who ended up playing a larger part in the story than I’d first anticipated.

Another good piece of advice is to print it out, chapter by chapter, since the ‘technical’ errors (punctuation and spacing etc) and typos are often easier to spot on a printed page, rather than on your computer screen. Read it out loud too. This can often highlight awkward sentences and show where your word flow can be improved.

Watch out for inconsistencies and continuity errors. Have the hero’s eyes changed from blue to brown? Did the heroine arrive at work in the morning and half an hour later go off for dinner with the hero? In my current WIP, I know I’m going to have to double-check whether I’ve put the heroine’s ‘office’ at college on the first or second floor as I think I’ve changed its location half way through.

It’s so easy to miss very obvious errors. Here’s a paragraph from a best-selling author, (who shan’t be named but you may be able to guess!):

A voice spoke, chillingly close. "Do not move." On his hands and knees, the curator froze, turning his head slowly. Only fifteen feet away, outside the sealed gate, the mountainous silhouette of his attacker stared through the iron bars.
Spot the errors? Fifteen feet away is chillingly close? Can you freeze and turn your head slowly at the same time? How can a mountainous silhouette stare? These are the kinds of thing that ought to jump out at you as you re-read your work.

The next step is to look at your style. Check for clichés and find a different way to express them. Look at your spelling and sentence structure. Do you have a series of sentences starting with ‘She’ or ‘He’? Re-write them and vary the start of each sentence.

Delete unnecessary dialogue tags and/or too many synonyms for ‘said’. The word ‘said’ is hardly noticed by a reader, whereas a plethora of synonyms like retorted, exclaimed, gasped, muttered, ordered etc etc can distract reader from what the characters are actually saying. Find action verbs instead of using adverbs. ‘She said nervously’ can be replaced with an action like lacing and unlacing her fingers. Look for the times when you can show, not tell.

Get rid of redundant actions too. You know the kind of thing (Ana wrote about this on Monday). I just took my own advice and changed: Her phone rang again and she picked it up, then pursed her lips when she saw the name on the screen. Of course she had to pick it up to see the name. So and she picked it up has been deleted.

Be aware of over-used words and phrases. You probably already know the ones you use too much. In Word you can use ‘edit’ and then ‘find’ to hunt for them and change them.

The editing process can be time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort. There is plenty of other advice in books and on websites about editing, so I’ll end with one last point. Don’t over-edit! Know when to stop ‘tweaking’ otherwise you’ll never have that final manuscript ready for submission.

Endings—It’s More Than “The End”

2011-11-29T05:43:00.001-08:00

For me, one of the most difficult things to write is theending. There are so many endings within a story—there’s the ending of a scene;the ending of the chapter and the ending of the book itself. Figuring out howto strike just the right tone and satisfy everyone can be tricky.

In my head, I often think in scenes, which is great as faras adding to what the characters are going to do or say. It’s also great to beable to sit down and bang out a scene, rather than a few sentences at a time.But sometimes it can be difficult when it comes to moving the reader along. Abeach scene will pop into my head, so I’ll scurry off to my computer and get itdown. I can get my characters to the beach, show what they’re doing there, revealwhat they’re thinking. Are they at the beach to swim or is this a chance toshow their attraction to each other—come on, there are probably women inbikinis, attraction shouldn’t be difficult! Is it a sweet family scene, withkids building sandcastles or a couple having sex behind the dunes? Regardlessof what’s going on, I can see it in my head, so I can basically get it onpaper. My problem, however, becomes how to end the scene. Quite often, theending that I have in my head is not the kind of hook that I’m told we need tohave to keep the reader interested. Sometimes, a pacing requirement means thatI can’t end every scene with an “OMG” kind of ending—there has to be time tobreathe. Other times, there has to be a smooth transition between scenes, so thatthe story doesn’t look like a bunch of taped together moments.

I run into the same difficulty when it comes to chapterendings. My critique partner always marks up my manuscript if I end a chapterwith a character going to sleep. Okay, I get her point, sleeping is not thatinteresting. It probably doesn’t move the story along (although it’s quiteuseful to show time passing) and it might make the reader decide to go to sleepherself, rather than turning the page to continue reading. But sometimes, thechapter just has to end and finding an interesting way of doing that can betough.

When it comes to ending the story, my idea of where to endthe story is often different from my characters’ ideas. I’m a pantser, so Iwrite as the ideas hit me. I start to put my ideas to paper, and then mycharacters laugh at me and point me in the direction that they want to go.Quite often, the ending I planned at the beginning of the story is not theending that I end up with. Sometimes, it’s even better than what I expected.Other times, it shows me that I’m not there yet, and I have to keep writinguntil I write an ending that satisfies both my characters and me (andhopefully, my readers!).

Ellipses

2011-11-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

Webster’s II New College Dictionary defines ‘Ellipsis’ as:
a) the omission of a word or phrase required for a complete syntactical construction but not necessarily for understanding.
b) a mark or series of marks [eg. …or ***] used in writing or printing for indicating an omission, esp. of letters or words.

In their book Self-Editing for Writers, Renni Browne and Dave King discuss a syndrome I have. Namely, feeling the need to describe every move a character makes. Every step she takes.

‘The phone rang. Geraldine walked across the room and picked it up. “Hello,” she said.’

Browne and King suggest editing this to: The phone rang. “Hello,” said Geraldine. Why? Because the reader knows we (used to) have to walk to a phone to answer it.

“When you fill in all the details and leave nothing to your readers’ imaginations, you’re patronizing them. It’s the influence of movies and television again—readers are used to jump-cuts from scene to scene rather than long traditional shots.”

I'm editing my WIP with this, and many other, craft caveats. So many swirling in my head. But step-by-step descriptions of mundane actions have become boring to read, and tedious to write. I'm happy to let ellipses do some of my work.

Friday Friend - Anna James

2011-11-25T07:06:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Anna James. The second book in her Bradford Sisters trilogy has just been published by Sugar and Spice Press. Shattered Dreams is a contemporary novella about a newly wed, and newly pregnant, couple.

I posed the following questions to Anna, and here are her responses.

1. What sort of schedule do you follow for writing? I try to dedicate at least 30 minutes to 1 hour per day to promoting my books and at least two hours to writing.

2. What tends to get in the way and how do you overcome it? My job gets in the way, family obligations, life in general. The way I look at it is there will always be something that takes away from the time when I could be writing so I do my best to write as often as I can. If I miss a day I don’t beat myself up about it but I do try to write for a longer period of time the next day.

3. Did you plot or pantser your new release? Usually I am a pastser when it comes to writing. I don’t write sequential scenes and I let my characters dictate where I go with the story. In the case of Shattered Dreams – Book 2 Bradford Sisters Trilogy, I actually did some plotting.

4. Did you use any maps or sheets? Why or why not? I used a story outline. I’m not sure why I deviated from my norm. I just found it easier to write this story with an outline versus not having one.

5. Did you slip a real, personal experience into your new release? Not in this particular case although I have used personal experiences in past books.

6. Can you tell us what that was and how you changed it? In my book Isabella’s Dilemma, the hero and heroine, Jake McAllistar and Isabella Sheridan, go to San Francisco for a business trip. While they are there they go site-seeing. They see all the places I saw when I went with my family to San Francisco. I even use an incident that took place on my trip in the book. In another story, To Love and Trust Again (Melange Book Available January 2012 www.melang-books.com) the heroine lives in Buffalo, NY which is where I grew up.

7. Do you have a favorite food or drink while you write, or as a reward for so many completed pages? My favorite sweet is chocolate and sometimes I reward myself with some if I get really inspired and get a lot of writing done.

8. How do you approach editing and revising? I usually incorporate the changes the editor requests. In my experience the changes they request usually make the story better.

9. Do you have critique partners or beta readers? I use my mother as a beta reader and a friend as well. My mother loves romance novels and writes as well so she is a good judge from that perspective. My friend is not into romance novels so if I engage her I believe I’m on the right path.

10. How long between submission to your publisher and acceptance? That can vary from publisher to publisher. I had one story (a short) that was accepted within 24 hours of being submitted and another (a short novel) that took over twelve weeks to be accepted. The novel took longer because the publisher wanted only the first three chapters with the initial submittal. I had to wait and see if they would request more. Luckily they did. But multiple submittals take time. Other things that can influence the amount of time it takes to hear from a publisher include the number of submissions they are currently reviewing. If a publisher is overwhelmed with submissions at the time when you decide to send a story in it usually takes longer for a reply.

11. Please tell our followers something about how they worked with you. Different publishers have different levels of involvement with the author. I have been fortunate in that my experiences with the two publishers I have worked with to date have been very positive. In each case the editors assigned to my stories worked with me to make my stories better – they were more polished. I also worked with the various cover artists to create covers for my books.

12. If you could spend an afternoon with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you do together? Sigmund Freud. I would love to pick his brain on male / female relationships.

Book Excerpt:
Reed walked into the house and found Natalie asleep on the couch. She is so beautiful; he thought and leaned down to lightly brush a strand of hair away from her face. It was pale. That meant she’d been sick again. He bent over and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled. “Hi, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Natalie stretched and sat up. “What time is it?”
Reed glanced at his watch.
“It’s a little after five.”
“Oh no, we’re supposed to be at the house for the barbecue in less than an hour. Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked and stood up. “Oh, God.” She groaned and swayed then dropped back down.
“Honey, are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m just a little dizzy.”
“Don’t move. I’m going to call Max and tell him we’ll have to reschedule,” he said as he pulled his cell phone from its holder.
Natalie put her hand on his arm. “No, don’t do that. I’ll be fine in just a minute. I just stood up too fast, that’s all.”
“Nat, I’m worried about you.”
She smiled wearily. “I’m fine. Maybe if I eat a little something I’ll feel better. Can you get me some saltine crackers, please?”
“Are you feeling nauseous?”
“No, but I didn’t eat anything for lunch—”
“I thought you were meeting your sisters?”
“I did but they ordered fish and I got one whiff of it and had to run for the bathroom.”
“Were they surprised why you told them you were pregnant?” Reed asked and smiled.
“I didn’t tell them.”
He frowned. “Didn’t they wonder why you were suddenly sick?”
“I didn’t give them the opportunity to ask.”
“I thought you would have told them.”
“Why? You know I don’t want to tell anyone right now.”
Reed dragged his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I told Max this afternoon.”
“Damn it, Reed. We agreed to wait.”
“I know, I know but I really thought you’d say something and… Oh, Nat please don’t cry.”
“I can’t help it. I didn’t want to say anything. Not yet and we agreed. Why did you tell him? You know he’ll say something to Nicole and… Oh God,” she sobbed even
harder then turned and ran from the room.

Author Bio:
Hello, I, Anna James, am a romance novel junkie! In addition to reading romance novels, and I have read well over 1000 in my adult life, I love to write them. Specifically, I love to write stories that allow you take a break from everyday life and get lost in a world filled passion, drama and, of course, romance!

My first story was published in July 2010 and I five more published since that date.

Current titles available include:
from Sugar and Spice Press
Isabella's Dilemma
Guilty As Charged - Bradford Sisters #1
Shattered Dreams - Bradford Sisters Trilogy #2 Visions, a paranormal romance

from Melange-Books
Coming Home Christmas Collectibles - A Picture Perfect Christmas (anthology)
Coming January 2012 To Love and Trust Again

To read more about Anna, visit her website: www.annajamesromance.com
or Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anna-James-Author-of-Contemporary-Romance-Novels/

Thanks for being here today, Anna.

D is for Dinner

2011-11-24T05:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so obviously I have turkey on the brain today. Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. It has all the best things in life...family, friends, and food! I for one can't wait to dive into tender, juicy turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, sweet, crisp corn, and spicy pumpkin pie.

But I digress...

Dinner, or any other meal, in a book can really add some depth to your characters and your story. Not to mention that it's a great way to include those five senses that are oh-so-important in writing. It's a great time to add meaningful conversation as your characters get to know one another. It's also such a normal thing to do it can make our characters come to life in a very real way.

The main thing to remember, though, is once dinner is in front of your characters, don't just leave it there. Make sure your characters are interacting with the food. Eating it is an obvious thing, (sipping the wine, biting into crispy, juicy fried chicken, savoring the last spoonful of ice cream from the bottom of the carton...) but there are other things that happen during a dinner scene that can be very telling.

Maybe the heroine is nervous, and no matter how good the food looks, she can't eat a bite.

Maybe she can't wait for dinner to be over (You know, so she and the hero can move on to, um (wink) dessert.) so she fiddles with her food instead of eating it.

Maybe the hero cooks dinner for the heroine. Or she cooks for him. What would they make for each other? Even preparing food can give your characters something to do; some action to counteract all of those dialogue tags.

And of course, food can be sensual...I wrote a scene once where chocolate figured prominently. One of my favorite lines from the whole book sums it up: Zach raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Jess, I have you naked and covered in chocolate. Do you really think I care about the damn bedspread?”

Dinner can be elegant, casual, at home, in a restaurant, or on the go. Where you have your characters dine and what they eat can be an important part of the story. Have some fun with it. Just make sure it's part of the story, there for a purpose.

Until next time,

Happy Reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Available now: A Christmas to Remember

Drafts

2011-11-23T01:17:00.000-08:00

Phew, you got there! Hero and heroine have overcome all the obstacles you threw at them and they’ve reached their ‘Happy Ever After’ ending. Triumphantly you write (or type) ‘The End’ and get ready to send off your ms. to the publisher of your choice.

Whoa, hold on a minute! This is the First Draft – and there’s still a lot of work to do.

In this month’s UK ‘Writing’ magazine, one publisher says that most aspiring writers make their first error by submitting far too soon without realising how much re-writing needs to be done. He lists a ‘10-draft’ process: typing out a rough draft, tightening the structure, developing the characters, improving the dialogue, working on the language, restructuring some parts, adding layers of conflict, improving crucial opening pages, more work on character development and finally proof-reading for mistakes.

A pretty scary list, right? I’m not sure it would actually take 10 drafts, since some could be combined. But the important point is that a first draft is very much a ‘first’ and can’t be considered as a manuscript which is ready for submission.

Normally, even in my first drafts, I tend to agonise over language and dialogue, trying to get it right the first time. However, having just taken part in NaNowriMo, with the aim of 50K words during November, I’ve surprised myself by being able to abandon my ‘inner editor’ as I sprint-wrote the whole story (57,380 words) in 21 days.

Okay, so it was pre-plotted (unlike my normal pantser method) as I was trying a rewrite/updating of a novel I wrote in the 1970’s. It did require some serious updating, especially my style, and also some of the content, since the world has changed since the 1970’s. Cell phones and email probably present the trickiest problem in updating because it’s so much easier now for characters to contact each other.

Even so, I’ve been aware that it was what I call ‘lazy’ writing. I ignored my usual careful honing of words to convey the exact meaning I wanted, I let adverbs and speech tags slip by, I repeated my favourite words and phrases (probably ad nauseam), my heroine’s heart did so many jumps and jerks, she’s in danger of an imminent heart attack. I also ignored the detailed research which can often hold me up for a long time. My mantra became ‘I’ll fix that later.’

But, at the end of 21 days, I have a first draft. The hero and heroine finally got to their happy ever after ending. However, I know I’m nowhere near that ending.

Could I submit this as it is now? No way. It’s the first time I’ve ever written a real ‘rough draft’ and, believe me, it IS rough! I know I still have a HUGE amount of work to do. 10 drafts? Maybe that’s what it will need.

How many drafts do you write, and what do you concentrate on improving with each draft?

(Character) Development--It's All His Fault!

2011-11-22T05:53:00.001-08:00

This counts as “D, ” right? ;) I was actually going to writeabout deadlines, but as I started thinking about deadlines, I started thinkingabout the pressure of meeting them and the paralysis it sometimes causes. I’vegot a self-imposed deadline for editing my current WIP and I realize that oneof the problems I’m having with meeting that deadline is not actually thepressure of that deadline, because really, self-imposed means I can change it(who’s gonna tell?), but rather the development of my character. In otherwords, it’s not my fault, it’s HIS!

I’ve got a hero who would be wonderful, if only I’d paidattention to that one detail, character development (for the purposes of thisblog, this week, it will be referred to from here on in as “development”). Likea lot of my characters, this one is based, very loosely, on an actor I saw onTV. I liked the actor’s looks—not too perfect, but still good looking;approachable; great eyes; and based on the character he portrays on TV, a nicepersonality. The problem is, he’s pretty bland, especially if that’s all I’vegot.

I hear the mantra, “know your characters” all the time, butwhen it came time to actually developing him (his name is Nathaniel, by theway), I think I may have skimped a bit. Sure, I have character traits on myoutline—I know he’s a single dad, he’s new to congregation (the story is aromance with a Jewish theme), he’s divorced, he likes Sam Adams beer and theauthor Dan Brown, he has slate-blue eyes, he’s a lawyer and he lives on theUpper East Side of New York. But that’s not enough.

I need to know why he does what he does. He doesn’t likebeing the object of gossip—why not? He doesn’t confide in people easily—whynot? What are his hopes and dreams? What are his desires for his daughter? Doeshe like being a lawyer? Why did he get divorced? What attracted him to hisfirst wife originally? What attracts him to the heroine now?

Without knowing those things, and more, I can’t possiblydevelop him into a fully rounded, three dimensional character that readers canrespond to, relate to and about whom they can care. And without knowing myhero, I can’t possibly make my heroine someone he’d want to be with and givethem the happily ever after they deserve, and readers want. Without developinghim further, I can’t move the action along because I don’t truly understand howhe’d react or, for that matter, what actions he’d cause.

So, instead of looking at my word count and going, “Uh oh,what other scenes can I add?”, I need to sit down and have a conversation withNathaniel. Maybe invite him to Thanksgiving dinner to get to know him better.As long as he doesn’t eat the apple pie—I’m NOT sharing!

I'll have one Dialogue, please

2011-11-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

How does the following paragraph read to you? Is the order logical? Smooth? Does it feel polished?

"I'm sorry," Amy said. "I'm just not ready."
Her hand trembled as she stared down at the small, black jeweler's box.
Her mind raced through her now-familiar list of marriage pros and cons.

There are guidelines to follow when writing action - reaction so sequences are logical and smooth. Evan Marshall simplifies it to F-A-D = feelings/thoughts, action, dialogue.

A heroine's feelings or thoughts come first. This may need a paragraph or a page, or she may have a split second flash.

Then she reacts to what she has felt (or thought) with a physical action. She freezes. She smiles. She looks around frantically. She throws her arms around her lover's neck. The action is justified by her just-stated inner state.

Then she speaks. What she says will advance the story because it will invite a response reaction from whoever is in the scene with her.

Based on F-A-D, the opening pararaph would read:

As she stared down at the small, black jeweler's box, Amy's mind raced through her now-familiar list of pros and cons. Her hand trembled. "I'm sorry. I'm just not ready."

Friday Friend - Rosemary Gemmell

2011-11-18T01:32:00.000-08:00

Romy Gemmell’s first historical novel, Dangerous Deceit, set in Regency England, was published by Champagne Books in Canada in May 2011. Her first tween novel, Summer of the Eagles, which is set in Scotland, is being published by MuseItUp Publishing in Canada in March 2012 (as Ros).

Her short stories and articles are published in UK magazines, in the US, and Online, under her full name, Rosemary, and her children’s stories are in three different anthologies. One of her short stories was included in the fundraising book, ‘100 Stories for Haiti’ in 2010. A historical short story was published in ‘The Waterloo Collection’, launched by the late professor Richard Holmes in April 2011. She has won a few competitions and will be a short story adjudicator at the annual Scottish Association of Writers’ Conference in March 2012.

Romancing History

Thank you very much for having me on the lovely Heroines with Hearts Blog – love the name!

A while ago, I changed my Regency blog to the title of Romancing History as I thought it a better indication of its contents since I’m not sticking to Regency fiction, either as a reader or writer. The other reason was because I write historical romance (sometimes) and not serious history books. Does that mean the historical facts don’t matter? Of course not, but perhaps we are allowed to romanticise them a little in using our creative imagination.

We can never truly know what it was like to live in any particular era apart from our own, as “the past is a foreign country” according to L.P. Hartley. So we thoroughly research our period and try to depict the setting, background and everyday life as accurately as possible. But, wait, we’re writing romantic fiction, therefore surely the characters and their stories are far more important than anything else? Absolutely, but if that were the only consideration, then the story might be transferable to any period of history and still make sense.

So it follows that one of the most important aspects of historical fiction is making sure a particular story and characters could only work within the bounds of their own time. It means grounding the novel in the culture and history of its era, checking that real events actually fit into the time span of the story, and making sure the language is appropriate for the period. That means being very careful to check for anachronisms – words and phrases that would not be in existence at the time. Nothing throws a reader out of a story quicker than reading a 20^th century expression in a novel written about a previous era. It’s easy enough to Google a linguistic question, as long as you check the answer with at least two sources.

I love to mention real historical figures if possible when writing about the past, as it is another way of grounding the story in reality. Again we can research historical figures and find out lots of facts about them fairly easily. But part of the fun is taking those bare facts and bringing the character to life through the dialogue we give them when interacting with the fictional characters. For instance, I’ve given words to Lord Byron and Robert Burns in two different novels, and the Duke of Wellington in a short story, while trying to remain true to what is known about them.

One of the pleasures of historical fiction is being transported to another time and place, exploring the lives and loves of particular characters. Hopefully, we might learn a little history on the way, even if it is a romanticised version of the past!

Thanks so much for this, Rosemary. As a former history teacher, I can endorse everything you say!

You can find out more about Rosemary/Romy/Ros at

Website: www.rosemarygemmell.com

General writing/information blog: http://ros-readingandwriting.blogspot.com

Historical writing blog: http://romygemmell.blogspot.com

Children’s writing blog: http://rosgemmell.blogspot.com

Twitter: @rosemarygemmell

Dangerous Deceit is published by http://champagnebooks.com

C is for Country Music

2011-11-17T03:21:00.000-08:00

It might sound overly dramatic to say Country Music defined my life, but in a sense it's true.

Growing up, my folks listened to country music. I hated it. Although, my first concert-going experience was to a Kenny Rogers concert. We all got dressed up and the whole family went.

Inevitably, almost as a sign of rebellion, I found a different outlet for my musical taste. In junior high it was Rick Springfield and then in high school the advent of the 80s hair bands had my sister and I going to a different 'metal' concert almost every month. We had a blast. I was definitely an 80s head-banger. It even continued into college where, much to my roommate's chagrin, I had a life-sized poster of Jon Bon Jovi on my closet door. (Jon Bon Jovi still does it for me!)

After I graduated from college, I happened to take a trip to Texas to visit a high school friend who was going to school down there. It was then that country music came back into my life. And there it stayed.

From then on I was hooked, and it led to so many other things, which really did lead me down a certain path in life:

I met my husband at a country bar. We learned to dance together. And fell in love. He's my best friend in the whole world and I owe it all to the music I listen to. (The bar eventually became the setting for my first novel: This Time for Always.) We made friends at the bar (which sadly is closed now) that we still keep in contact with today. Some were even in our wedding. Some of our most memorable moments while dating came while at "Country Thunder", a multi-day outdoor concert/camping experience.

I really do think John Deere tractors are sexy thanks to Kenny Chesney.

Most of my books have somewhat of a country feel. Their corresponding soundtracks are always country. If my hero isn't a cowboy, or something else close to it, he at the very least drives a pick-up truck or wears boots. Certain country songs have sparked ideas which have turned into complete stories.

I even work out to country music most of the time: Toby Keith and Eric Church can rock with the best of them.

And I've learned to love all of those old country classics my parents used to listen to.

There are many folks out there who don't care for country music, but as for me, without it, I wouldn't be who I am today.

Until next time,

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Critique Partners

2011-11-16T02:30:00.000-08:00

For NaNoWriMo (the annual National Novel Writing Month) I’ve been rewriting a novel which I first wrote in the 1970’s. In those pre-internet days, I’d never heard of critique partners. I did have what is now called a beta-reader but she was a non-writer friend who read my chapters and helped me brainstorm ideas for the development of the story.

I hadn’t even looked at this particular novel for years; now, having read it again, I’ve realised how much it needed the help of a critique partner. Okay, it was published exactly as I wrote it (without any editorial input), so maybe the style of my writing was ‘normal’ at that time. Now it simply makes me cringe!

I started writing romance again about five years ago and know I was still writing in my ‘old’ style to start with. I only have to look at my first ‘fan-fiction’ stories and the first novel I wrote to realise that. Then I started to change my style.

Why? Because I found two great critique partners. I've never met them - I'm in the UK and they're in the USA, but during the last couple of years, we’ve worked together (and become friends too).

Writing, as I know from when I was writing my early novels and knowing no other writers at the time, can be a lonely job, and it’s good to have a friend who is prepared to read your work and give you his/her honest opinion. The word honest is important. I don’t want just positive feedback with a few ‘nice’ comments, although a comment of ‘Great, this really worked well’ does wonders for one’s confidence. But at the same time, I want a genuine opinion and, if necessary, hard-hitting comments.

A good CP can help you to improve both your storyline and your writing style. They can highlight your word or phrase repetition, overuse of passive verbs and adverbs, and telling rather than showing. I was guilty of all of these but didn’t actually realise it until my CPs told me. I’m sure they could list plenty of other errors too!

Sometimes (often?) we can get too close to our own story and characters. A critique partner comes to it with fresh eyes and can point out the things that you may have overlooked. They can look at the big picture and tell you what is working and what isn’t, where the plot holes or anomalies are and whether the pace of the story is too slow or too fast. They can also help you to brainstorm when your story runs into a sticky patch.

It works both ways, too. Critiquing someone else’s work has the double bonus of helping yourself as well as (hopefully) helping them. I have learnt a lot about what works and what doesn’t from critiquing.

Now I’m going through the process of critquing my own 1970’s novel, and the errors I made in the original are jumping out at me. Before I worked with my CPs, I doubt I would have noticed any of those errors.

So this is a tribute to my critique partners – with a million thanks to them both for their help, support, encouragement and friendship!

Characters—Who’s Driving the Story?

2011-11-15T04:16:00.001-08:00

There are all different ways to drive your story, but forme, it’s the characters. I love character-driven stories. They have charactersthat are three dimensional and memorable. They make the story “why” based,rather than “how” based.

Martha Alderson, an international plot consultant and the founder ofBlockbuster Plots for Writers., describes it this way:

Broadlyspeaking, writers who prefer writing action-driven stories focus on logicalthinking, rational analysis, and accuracy. Action-driven writers tend to relymore on the left side of their brain. These writers approach writing as alinear function and see the story in its parts. Action-driven writers likestructure. They usually pre-plot or create an outline before writing.Action-driven writers have little trouble expressing themselves in words.

Onthe other hand, writers who write character-driven stories tend to focus onaesthetics and feelings, creativity and imagination. These writers access theright side of their brains and enjoy playing with the beauty of language. Theyare more intuitive, and like to work things out on the page. Character-drivenwriters are holistic and subjective. They can synthesize new information, butare somewhat (or more) disorganized and random. They see the story as thewhole. Right brain writers may know what they mean, but often have troublefinding the right words.

While I don’t think I’m disorganized or random, I do agreein general with what Alderson says. My stories start out with thecharacters—who are they, what do they do and think, why do they do and thinkthat, what would happen to them if I did this? I tend to develop scenes arounda particular thought or emotion given by that character and then string thosescenes together to make a story. Sometimes it works, and I end up with acomplete manuscript. Other times, I have a great scene, but that’s about all.

I like to delve into the psychological reactions and reasonsfor what my characters do. What are the obstacles that are preventing the heroand heroine from getting together? For me, those obstacles are usually not tangible,external conflicts, but rather emotional or internal conflicts. I enjoyfiguring out what they are and how to solve them—and it’s so much easier solvinga fictional character’s neurosis than my own! J

Shhh. It's Confidential.

2011-11-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

A main character's confidant can be a best friend, kindly neighbor, grandparent, or business partner. This character listens to the hero as he ticks off reasons why he has to shoulder the blame and go on alone. The confident can supply information or try (unsuccessfully) to stop the headstrong hero.

A confidant offers advice even when it's not wanted. When the heroine proclaims she could never love that awful hero, the confidant helps the her talk though her feelings. The confidant always helps the heroine achieve her goal.

For a writer, a confidant is an ideal tool. With the interaction between a lead and his or her confidant, active dialogue replaces what otherwise could be long passages of introspection.

Donald Maas says, "The best kind of confidant is a character who is already part of the lead's life and would naturally play [the role of sounding board,] but who has reason to exist in her own right."

Friday Friend - Jane Richardson

2011-11-11T01:33:00.000-08:00

Please welcome today's Friday Friend, Jane Richardson.

Scots-born Jane Richardson now lives on the coast in the south of England. After a couple of fantastic careers, the last of which was her dream job as a DSM in professional theatre and opera – where she met her husband - she’s now a home-educating Mum to two gorgeous kids. When she gets the chance, she loves to write, read, listen to music, walk in the sunshine and the breeze, paddle at the edge of the sea, and cook and share food, chat and good times with family and friends. She’s also fond of lemurs!

Read Right – Write Right!

Thanks Paula and everyone at Heroines With Hearts for having me here!

I’ve been thinking about something I heard a writer say the other day – how she often found it very difficult just to read for fun, now that she spends so much time writing. She found it hard to suspend her judgement, or take off her ‘critique hat.’ The things that were ‘wrong’ with a piece of writing tended to jump out at her more than things that were ‘right,’ and this was spoiling her reading pleasure.

Hmm. Well, I sort of know what she means, and I bet there are lots of writers who’ll say the same thing – how they find it hard to enjoy books that don’t meet up to their ‘high writing standards.’ Is it really the case that when we become writers, our ‘reading standards’ suddenly change? Perhaps up to a point they do, though I’m afraid I’ve never ever really been one to give a book more than a couple of chances anyway. So many times I've started a book with high hopes only to drop it in disappointment before end of first chapter.

Call me impetuous, but I’m afraid I tend not to keep reading in the hope that the book will improve – it invariably doesn’t, and it gets quietly dropped to one side while I go to the next one in the TBR pile. Too many books, too little time!

But you know that old thing about making lemonade out of lemons? Well, you can use that here. Use your reading time as a valuable learning resource. We can use identify what works or doesn’t work in a story, and why, and incorporate the positive things into our own writing. This doesn't mean copying a style or another author's voice, not at all – it means sorting the good stuff from the less good, and using that experience to focus in a positive and honest way in your own work, and change what needs changing.

Very often, and most telling of all, a lot of these things can be spotted in the first few pages. As writers, we need to take note of that - after all, if I’m prepared to stop reading a book in the first chapter, I have to accept readers might do the same with my writing, unless I work very hard to make absolutely sure they want to keep reading!

So what is it that keeps us reading, and stops us from hurling a book aside with great force to ricochet off the wall and land face-down in the nearest bin? I’ve picked out just a few of my likes and dislikes to illustrate what I mean, and called them Dodgy Moments and Learning Curves. I’m sure you have lots of your own, so please do feel free to add your suggestions in the comments section!

Dodgy Moment 1 – Does the writer open the story by setting the scene quickly and launching me on a forward journey from the get-go? How many times have you read on to a second or third paragraph where the writer has felt the need to start explaining the story, when all a reader wants to do is read the story?
Learning Curve 1 – opening with explanation or backstory can deal a killer bow to you story. You rarely need it, and it’s certainly not appropriate in the opening sections of a book. Trust your reader to fall in step with you as you move forward – you’re taking them on a wonderful journey, and if they trust you, they’ll go willingly. If you feel your story simply won’t stand up without some backstory, then you might want to consider if you’ve started the story in the right place.

Dodgy Moment 2 – now that the story’s moving, does it keep moving? Or did I have to go back and re-read sections again, before I understood what the writer meant?
Learning Curve 2 - a story has to flow. A reader might be prepared to re-read a section once, but twice is pushing a writer’s luck, and three times is way too much to keep a reader interested. This is where good, honest feedback is invaluable to a writer in the early stages of a manuscript. A good critique partner should be able to spot this for you, and when they do, get rid of it.

Dodgy Moment 3 - ‘It was a dark and stormy night…. I’m talking about those dreaded clichés. Has the drowning writer grabbed the cliché straw with yet another ‘ruby liquid’ or a ‘defiant chin?’

Learning Curve 3 - one cliché is one too many. Use all the clichés you like in your first draft, especially if it gets you out of a hole at the time, but you absolutely must go back and get rid of them before you put your story in front of a paying reader. If they feel they’ve read it all before, why on earth would they want to keep reading?

Dodgy Moment 4 – can you tell the characters apart from the way they speak, or do they all sound the same? Do they all use perfectly constructed, grammatically correct sentences? Into the same category comes accents and dialogue – are you being asked to read an awful of of words you just don’t understand, or work out what a character is trying to say by trying to make sense of a bagload of peculiar spellings?

Learning Curve 4 – think about each character’s individual speech pattern. The rhythm of a person’s speech, as well as the words they choose to use, is far more effective than worrying about whether or not their grammar and syntax is correct, or whether you’ve ‘written out’ an accent phonetically. Rhythm and word choice is also a very effective way of highlighting your characters’ individuality, especially when you have a lot of characters in the same scene or chapter - use their individual assets to make them shine.

Dodgy Moment 5 - when we’re first introduced to the characters, are they too good to be true? Too nasty to be true?

Learning Curve 5 – think about just how realistic your character’s behaviour is, especially if you’re trying to portray someone initially as less-than-perfect. In contemporary times in particular, women are less likely to give arrogance a second chance, but will either respond to it or not bother with the guy again. Even if you’re aiming for a misunderstanding between characters or a mistaken impression that will be corrected later, a baddie with roots in Victorian melodrama belongs in Victorian melodrama and nowhere else!

Those are just a few of my thoughts – I’d love to hear yours!

Thanks, Jane, for such a lot of interesting points to think about!

Jane’s latest release is a short story called Edinburgh Fog, published by MuseItUp Publishing.

http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=193&category_id=18&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1

You can read more about Jane and her future projects at her blog Home Is Where The Heart Is - http://janerichardsonhome.blogspot.com/

B is for Bull Riders

2011-11-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

...my absolute favorite kind of cowboy!

I'm not sure what I like best. How his Wranglers accentuate the swagger in his step. The well worn boots. The Stetson pulled low to shade his brooding eyes. The chaps that outline his perfect butt. Or just the fact that he's willing to face off against a 2,000 pound beast and finds the danger exciting and exhilarating. He's the sexiest bad boy around, but he's always the perfect gentleman, which is why the ladies can't resist him.

That being said, there was no doubt in my mind that one day I'd write a book with a bull rider as the hero. I've been working on it for a while, and this summer I polished it up, sent it to my editor at Wild Rose, and waited.

Yesterday I heard back...ahead of schedule (the editor had promised to get back to me by December).

At first I was bummed. She felt the story needs some tweaking before it's ready to be published. Now don't get me wrong...I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing and make it better, but when someone tells you your baby isn't good enough...it's a little heart-breaking.

But the more I thought about it, the better I felt. This will give me the opportunity to make this book the best it can be.

I'm confident that someday, Jake's story will be out there. It might not be as soon as I'd hoped, but it'll get there.

Plus, in the meantime, this gives me the prefect excuse to watch more bull riding on TV in the name of research. Or maybe catch some local rodeos live and in person at county fairs. (Which is where I took these pictures.) What more could a girl ask for?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Now available: A Christmas to Remember (from TWRP)

Books - real or digital?

2011-11-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Last April I wrote a blog, as part of the A-Z Challenge, about real books versus e-books. I declared very firmly:

“I’ve been firmly in the ‘real books’ camp for a long time. I love books. All the shelves in my home bear witness to that. I haven’t counted, but there must be several hundred.

Most of them I’ll never read again, but I hate parting with them. If I take a bag of books to the local charity shop (simply to make some room on the shelves), I agonise over which to put into the bag.

I like a real book in my hands. I like the look, feel and smell of it. I love browsing in bookshops, both new and used, studying titles and authors, reading the blurb, sometimes dipping into a few pages.

I was convinced I wouldn’t succumb to an electronic book reader. Quite apart from my love of real books, I don’t particularly enjoy learning how to cope with ‘new’ technology.

But then my daughter showed me her ‘Kindle’ and demonstrated how easy it was to download e-books. My interest was kindled (pardon the pun!)

I started thinking of the almost-two-inch thick tome I put in my suitcase for holiday reading last year. How much easier to take a slim e-reader instead.

I started thinking about the American-published books by many of my internet friends. How much easier to download these instead of waiting for them to be mailed (and paying extra for postage and packing).

I started thinking of no longer having to clear some room on my shelves to make room for new books.

My daughter then bought me a Kindle for my birthday last August, and I have to say I am totally hooked! Not just for holiday reading (although I did take it with me on my recent trip to Italy), but for other times too. Times when I probably wouldn’t have taken a book with me, such as when I was meeting up with a friend – and managed to read a few pages while I was waiting for her, the time I was waiting at the doctor’s for my flu-shot, and the time I sat in the supermarket’s coffee shop while my daughter went off to do some shopping.

Any ‘waiting’ time has now become reading time for me. Another bonus is that I’ve been able to read books I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to obtain here in the UK, and also books which are only available as e-books.

Having said that, I still like ‘real’ books, especially my own. There is nothing to beat holding your own book, with your own name on the cover, in your own hands!

Books, Books, Books!

2011-11-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

What books have inspired your reading or your writing? I’mnot talking about writer’s craft books, although those are important and everywriter needs a library of them. No, I’m talking about authors and books youlove to read.

I read a lot (although sometimes sporadically, and currentlyobsessively) so narrowing my list down could be difficult. But everyone hasbooks that speak to them. If you’re areader, there are certain books that you can’t do without. Think “stuck on adesert island” kind of books, the ones that no matter what happens, you’regoing to buy those books, read and re-read them and nothing is going to makeyou get rid of them.

If you’re a writer, there are books whose style or imageryor characterization or POV you appreciate. The ones you dog ear or underline sothat you can go back to them later and remind yourself of the best way to writesomething (no, I’m not talking plagiarism).

For me, there are several books that have inspired me tobecome a writer. Julia Quinn is an expert at dialogue and changing POV midscene. She teaches workshops about these topics and if you’re ever able to takeone, I highly recommend it. When I first started writing, I couldn’t writedialogue without it sounding stilted. By reading authors who are experts atthis, Quinn included, I’ve been able to practice that skill and make characterssound like real people in their conversations.

Lynn Kurland writes wonderful time travel and historicalbooks. I love them as a reader, but as a writer, I love to study how shecreates her characters. Her conflicts are agonizingly believable and she pullsemotion from you like no one else can. I dog-ear her books and when I’m tryingto get just the right amount of emotion from my character, I often find thatgoing back to her books and seeing how she does it helps me to do it better.

Robyn Carr creates a small town that I’d give my eye teethto live in, but she also shows how to write a series using existing characterswho populate that town. The structure is great and if you’re planning a series,check out her early Virgin River books.

Although I write contemporary romance, I don’t exclusivelyread that. The Beach Trees by Karen White is a wonderful book for readers andwriters. Chapters switch between two female characters, and even without thesubheads telling you which character is speaking, you know by how welldeveloped both Julie and Aimee are.

We all have skills we’re good at and skills that need morework, and we can learn so much from each other and from other writers. Whatbooks are on your “must have” list?

B is for BACKSTORY

2011-11-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

While I was writing the first and second drafts of my WIP, I was sure I needed to open with a prologue scene that showed my heroine’s childhood. I felt the reader needed this information to empathize with her present situation. But I’ve been learning some rules:

Backstory belongs only where it explains what’s important for the reader to know at that moment. In other words, sparingly and so it doesn’t interrupt the pace of the story.
The longer essential information is withheld, the better. It’s best to reveal backstory before the midpoint. Never insert at the end; your ending will seem contrived.
Don’t repeat backstory information. Readers have good memories.
Backstory can be presented as action. It can be incorporated as dialogue, or revealed through short inner thoughts. Or a combination of these.
If you need a flashback, write it as a blow-by-blow action sequence that ends in disaster for your main character.

I have deleted my opening chapter and the first half of chapter 2. As I edit, I’m watching for repetitious backstory information.
I have three backstory passages. One is part of an action scene. The second is a short, essential nightmare. The third is draft 2’s version of my original prologue. I love this scene—it is where I defined my heroine, but I’m now sure it doesn’t serve the story.

Friday Friend: Linda Rettstatt

2011-11-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Please join us in welcoming Linda Rettstatt, our latest Friday Friend. LindaRettstatt likes to know what makes people tick, and she loves a good story. Thecombination sparked her interest in creating stories and characters that seemreal and engaging. Her books have finaled four times for EPIC eBook Awards. APennsylvania Yankee, Linda now resides in Mississippi where she is permitted to sharean apartment with her cat, Binky, (as long as she continues to bring home theFancy Feast.) Her work is published with Wings ePress, Class Act Books, andChampagne Books.

Write from the Heart

“Sometimes you justhave to lose your mind…and follow your heart.”

~ Beth Rutledge in The Year I Lost My Mind

When I wrote these words for the character of Beth Rutledge,I didn’t realize how much they meant to me. But these words capture for me theprocess of writing fiction. As an author, my goal is twofold: to createcharacters that are engaging, regardless of whether they are ‘good’ or ‘evil’,and to tell a story that resonates on an emotional level with my readers. Ifirmly believe good fiction comes from the heart more than from the head.

Sure, we have to know the basics, the technical aspects ofwriting, and the rules for story construction. I liken the process to buildinga house. I’ve been in houses, and then I’ve been in homes. Houses are carefullyconstructed, functional, and provide shelter. But a home has warmth beyond itsfunctionality. That’s the way I view writing. I want my books to do more thanentertain. I want the characters to come to life and make my readers care aboutthem. I want to tell a story with which the reader can identify, in which shecan find some element of herself and her own story. I want my book to be morethan a house. I want it to be a home.

Most authors will tell you they have a file somewhere loadedwith potential book ideas. Now, I’ve learned that not every idea makes a goodbook. An idea for a book generally comes to me in the form of a ‘what if’question in my head. As I explore that what if, I’ll know if there is a storyto be told that will be worth reading. How? Because that story will make myheart pound. It’ll make me breathe faster. It’s like falling in love. You wantto be with that ‘other’ constantly, without distraction.

I’ve heard other writers suggest, “Write the book of yourheart,” as if there is only one. My problem—they’re all books of my heart. Idon’t know any other way to write and, if I try to take an idea and force itinto a story, I’m doomed to fail. I will run out of steam and lose interest.The writing will be stiff and emotionless. As a reader, I can tell thedifference between books that are written perfunctorily and books that flowfrom the writer’s heart. Those are the books I have a hard time putting down.

And, so, when I sit down to start a new project, I take Beth’sadvice. I lose my mind…and follow my heart.

Linda Rettstatt

www.lindarettstatt.com

www.onewomanswrite.blogspot.com

Back cover blurb:

M.J. Rich is about to breakup with her boyfriend and seeksthe comfort of her family’s familiar traditions for Christmas in Pittsburgh. Brady Cameronplans to spend the holiday alone at a Pennsylvaniaski resort, drowning his sorrows. They meet while stranded by a winter storm inthe Philadelphia Airport and agree to share the lastrental car available, since they are both heading west. But a blizzard forcesthem off the highway, and Christmas turns out to be nothing either of themexpects.

Excerpt:

M.J. elbowed her way to the departures board where flightafter flight flashed a bright red Canceled. She turned her attention to one ofthe overhead TV screens to see a news alert: a winter storm had swept in fromthe northwest, dumping several inches of snow in its wake. Currently, Cleveland experienced blizzard conditions, Chicago had already been crippled with more than a foot ofsnow, and the storm was bearing down on the Pittsburgh area. “Oh, no.” M.J. let hershoulders drop in defeat and her purse slid down her arm to loop over thehandle of the laptop bag.

From overhead speakers, Burl Ives sang, “Have a holly, jollyChristmas…”

“If you’re headed west, you may want to get to the carrental counter as soon as possible,” a male voice whispered in her ear.

Startled, she turned and looked up. “Excuse me?”

“There’s going to be a rush on car rentals. You may want toconsider the option.”

“Oh. Where is the…”

He pressed a finger to his lips. “Follow me. Casually, butquickly, before everyone else gets the same idea.”

She smiled and fell into step behind him. Sandy brown hairtapered neatly at his collar. Below the leather bomber jacket, worn jeanshugged a very nice backside. She redirected her eyes to his back. He turnedleft and she followed, noting the signs indicating the Car Rental. A line hadbegun to build at each of the rental counters. Her rescuer motioned toward theshortest line and picked up his pace.

As they inched forward at the rental counter, he turnedtoward her. “You look familiar. How would I know you?”

“I’m on TV in Charleston, South Carolina.”

“Really? What show?”

“The news on WCL.”

“WCL, huh?”

“You know the station?”

He hesitated. “I must have seen it when I was in Charleston on business atone time or another. I’m Brady Cameron. And you are?”

“M.J. Rich.” Well, at least he remembered her face, if nother name.

“Are you headed home for the holidays?”

M.J. nodded. “My family is in Pittsburgh. You?”

“Seven Springs Resort. Holiday skiing.” He glanced towardthe windows. “Too bad I don’t have my skis with me now. Looks like they mightcome in handy.”

She gazed out at the steadily falling flakes and her heartsank. “Oh, no. I have to get to Pittsburghtonight. If the storm’s coming from the west…”

Brady grabbed her hand and tugged her up to the counter. “Weneed cars,” he said to the clerk.

“You each need a car?”

“Yes.”

The haggard-faced man shook his head. “I’ve got one left.”

“We’ll take it.”

“What?” M.J. asked. “What ‘we’?”

Reinventing Christmas – a sweet contemporary romance

Coming December, 2011 from ChampagneBooks

www.champagnebooks.com

Adjectives

2011-11-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

When I was at school (a long time ago!), my English teachers insisted we used lots of adjectives to make our writing more descriptive. In contrast, writers are warned against the overuse of adjectives.

Various reasons are given for this: too many adjectives give your novel a ‘purple prose’ tint, or clutter the text with unnecessary modifiers, or give the impression that the writer cannot quite find the right word.

Mark Twain said: "As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out."

The question is – which adjectives should you strike out?

First there are the redundant adjectives – the tiny kitten (aren’t all/most kittens tiny?), the large mountain (ever seen a small mountain?), the narrow alley (an alley IS a narrow passage), the cold snow (if snow wasn’t cold, it would be water!). Omit the adjective if the noun is self-explanatory.

Secondly, there are the adjectives which, with their nouns, can be replaced with a much more descriptive word e.g. ‘a downpour flooded the streets’ instead of ‘heavy rain flooded the streets’, or ‘the witch cackled’ instead of ‘the witch gave an evil, sharp laugh’.

There are also some adjectives which have become almost meaningless and should be avoided (except in dialogue), including wonderful, lovely, pretty, stupid, foolish, pleasant, comely, horrid – and the obvious one, nice.

However, a story without any adjectives could end up as very clinical and dry. As with most things, moderation is the key. We are not advised to avoid adjectives altogether, but to avoid overusing them.

Eliminating all adjectives would be as big a mistake as overusing them. Adjectives can clarify meaning and add colour to our writing, and can be used to convey the precise shade of meaning we want to achieve. We should save them for the moments when we really need them and then use them selectively – and sparsely. Too often we feel the need to beef up our nouns in an effort to get our point across.

Compare: The dark, dreary house had an empty, suspicious feel to it, the thick air stale and sour with undefined, scary kitchen odors. Are all these adjectives necessary?

A tighter, more dramatic description would be: The house had an empty feeling to it, the air stale with undefined kitchen odors.

Use adjectives only to highlight something the noun can’t highlight. We’ve already seen that the ‘narrow alley’ has a redundant adjective, but what about the ‘dark alley’ or the ‘filthy alley’? Not all alleys are dark or filthy so in these examples, the adjectives are adding something that isn't already shown by the noun. This is the main reason for using an adjective.

And now I’m off to take my own advice, and look through my ms. for redundant adjectives!

Arcs

2011-11-01T06:01:00.001-07:00

“A my name is Abby and my husband’s name is Adam. We live in Alabama and we sell apples.”

This popular children’s rhyme/jump rope song tells the simplest of stories. It identifies the characters, tells where they live and what they do. But it doesn’t provide any action or character development.

As writers, we need to illustrate a story arc. Our plot has to go from point A to point B. We can’t just write about “nothing.” In contemporary, mainstream romance, that story arc is usually girl meets boy, girl and boy fall in love, girl and boy face some conflict that separates them for a while and finally, girl and boy solve the conflict and live happily ever after.

In addition to story arcs, there are character arc. Our characters have to progress, to change, to develop. Similar to the way our children develop, but in warp speed. Is our heroine selfish? Why? What made her that way and how can we show her to become more selfless, less selfish by the time the story ends so that she and her hero can end up together? Is our hero commitment-phobic? Why? What made him that way and how can we show him change his attitude in a believable way so that he and the heroine end up together?

In order to have an arc, we have to know the “why.” What makes our heroes and heroines tick? What motivates them to become better people? What was in their background that makes them who they are? There has to be a reason for our plot as well. As real people, we may plod along in our lives, but no one wants to read about that. Readers want our plots to move forward so that they can be entertained.

By combining our character motivation with our plots we can hopefully tell a compelling story. By making sure our characters progress, that they identify and solve a problem, we keep our readers engaged. That’s what makes a good story.

A stands for Appearance

2011-10-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

We’ve set up a new challenge for ourselves on HWH. Posts will follow the alphabet. All posts this week will be on topics starting with the letter A. Next week, the letter B. And so forth.

I want to talk about defining a lead character’s APPEARANCE. When I first get a fix on a story line, that usually comes with a solid gender and age for my heroine. Since I write historicals and timetravels, she is usually in her 20’s or early 30’s, pretty to beautiful, and, by personal preference, capable in her everyday world.

If I were writing YA, she’d be in her teens. Contemporaries could have an older heroine, needing to start a fresh chapter in life. Suspense seems to call for a heroine who is energetic and well-established in a career. There are many potential variations, though, and writing the unexpected may lift a novel above the pack.

In the first community ed novel writing class I attended, the instructor taped people pictures on the whiteboard. She told us to each pick a picture to craft a story around. I asked if I could pick two, since I knew I wanted to write a romance. (I was surprised I was the only romance enthusiast. I had so much to learn.)

I claimed two pictures, and started inventing descriptions of my new characters’ personalities. By the end of the class, I was able to pitch a credible basic plot. I was hooked!

Since then, I’ve not focused on the picture method, mainly because my magazine subscriptions are for news or farming. I might glance at Sunset and People in the dentist’s office, but feel guilty about ripping out a page or two.

I know my WIP characters very well after five years of writing. But when I start my next story, I plan to make a collage of my hero, heroine, and villain, and maybe my main secondary characters.

Essential details of appearance are:

Height
Body type
Face
Color of hair, skin and eyes
How the eyes react to various situations: open wide? Narrow? Dart here and there? Avoid?
Same with the speech. Is she verbose or reticent? Use big words or stammer? Curse, repeat, yes sir a lot? Repeated phrases? Honey, sugar, or baby doll said affectionately or insultingly?
Any scars, moles, dimples, weird eyebrows, big earlobes?
Size and shape of hands and feet
Breasts / chest, hips
Length and size of arms and legs
Choice of clothing
How he walks
Posture
Personal hygiene
What s/he does while waiting in a line.

Donald Maas says a lead character should have:
1. courage
2. virtue
3. likeability
4. competence

Body type and appearance can impact these four qualities.
Let the cutting and pasting begin!

Friday Friend - Katheryn Lane

2011-10-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

Please welcome today's Friday Friend, Katheryn Lane.

Katheryn has lived and worked all over the world, including the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As a result she has no clear idea of where she is really from! She is currently working full-time as a teacher, mother and a wife, but somehow she also finds time to be a part-time writer as well. ‘The Royal Sheikh’ is her first book, a contemporary romance inspired by her experience of living in the Middle East. In her free time (on the rare occasion that she has any!) she loves to lose herself in a good book.

Happy Endings

‘ . . . and they lived happily ever after’ is the classic ending of any good fairytale. It is also the classic ending to any romance novel and though it is phrased in more varied language, the meaning is the same: the boy gets the girl (or nowadays, the girl gets the boy) and they are united together in their love for each other after having overcome many tests and challenges. But why is this? Why do romances always have that happily ever after ending?

Firstly, romance stories are types of fairy tales in which good overcomes evil and love conquers all. Both fairytales and romances have an enduring appeal because of this as they reinforce our hope that love will win the day and that despite all the hardships that are suffered, life is essentially good and fair. Like fairytales, romances show us that despite the many trials and tribulations that are thrown our way (whether it’s the big bad wolf, or a simple misunderstanding between two people), the power of love will find a way to overcome these obstacles, beat the odds and enable us to find happiness.

Secondly, even though we know that life is often not fair, the guaranteed happy ending in romances gives us a bit of escapism. In real life there are too many unhappy endings due to illness, death and divorce, not to mention infidelity, unrequited love and forced separation. Reading a good romance provides us with a bit of fantasy and a pleasurable escape. Even when we aren’t confronted with the bigger problems in life, romances give us an easy way to get away from some of the more miserable aspects of our existence such as the weather, having to get up at 5.00am for work (in my case!) and the price of the weekly shopping bill. Romances have the power to bring some joy into our lives. Without the happy ever after ending, a romance novel would turn into a tragedy and if that is what we wanted to read, we would pick up a copy of ‘Wuthering Heights’ or ‘The English Patient’ instead.

Thirdly, as we read a romance we become attached to the central characters and there is nothing like the satisfaction of seeing them, like good friends, coming together at last and finding true happiness. Personally as a writer, I want my characters to be happy by the time I leave them at the end of the story and I would feel guilty if I didn’t. If I left them apart at the close of the final chapter I would feel that my story was unfinished and I am sure that my readers would feel cheated. In the same way, readers of an Agatha Christie mystery would feel cheated if Miss Marple failed to solve the crime by the end of the book and the mystery finished with her saying that she has absolutely no idea who did it.

I am sure that there are many more reasons why romances have that happily ever after ending, but for me these are the main ones and they are why I love reading and writing romance.

Katheryn, thank you so much for being with us today. Having read and enjoyed 'The Royal Sheikh' while I was holiday last week, I don't think I'm giving too much of a spoiler by saying that of course it has a happy and satisfying ending!

‘The Royal Sheikh’ is available from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052ZIQEK/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_yp66nb1E1F8RJ

and Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/72684

Follow Katheryn online at Twitter: http://twitter.com/KatherynLane

Like her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KatherynLane.Author

Read what she’s up to at the moment: http://katheryn-lane.blogspot.com

Kinesics - Using Body Language in your Novels

2011-10-24T01:31:00.000-07:00

Kinesics is the interpretation of body language i.e. the movement of the body as a whole or any part of the body. The term was first used in 1952 by Ray Birdwhistell, an anthropologist, who argued that all movements of the body have meaning and that these non-verbal forms of language can be analysed.

Of course we’re all aware of how different facial expressions can reveal a person’s feelings. There are seven universally recognized emotions shown through facial expressions: fear, anger, surprise, contempt, disgust, happiness, and sadness. I would suggest there are many more – concentration, desire, joy, frustration and confusion are just a few that come to mind. As writers, it’s our job to show our characters’ feelings – not by statements such as ‘She felt confused’ but by showing her confusion as in ‘Her nose wrinkled and the crease between her brows deepened as she looked from Sam to John and then back again.’

Eyes and mouth probably play the largest part in showing feelings – contrast the widening eyes of interest with the rolling eyes of frustration, and the tight-lipped smile with the pursed lips. Eye-contact (or lack of it) can also reveal a whole range of different feelings.

The movement of the head as a whole is important too. Nodding signifies agreement, slow head nodding shows attentiveness, fast head nodding can show impatience, and there’s a world of difference between the head held high and the head down.

The position of the arms can signify different things, and of course the hands have their own language, whether it’s clenched fists, cracking knuckles or fidgeting with a pen or wineglass.

Leg positions can sometimes be influenced by gender. Men and women do tend to sit differently. Partly due to clothing, partly due to sexual differences, men naturally exhibit more open leg positions than women, but there are still accepted interpretations of leg position. The figure-4 leg cross with the supporting leg being crossed just above the knee by the ankle of the or lower calf of the crossing leg signifies independence. With a hand clamped over the ankle of the crossing leg, it can reveal stubbornness since the hand produces a locked position, reflecting the mood of the person.

Even the position of people in relation to each other can be interesting. Sitting opposite another person can create a feeling of confrontation, which is intensified if there is a table of desk between you and the other person. Of course, sitting opposite across a table can be fine for lovers who gaze into each other’s eyes!

Studying kinesics can help us to use the right expressions, gestures, movement or body positions to reveal the emotions of our characters.

One the best articles I have read on the subject can be found at http://www.businessballs.com/body-language.htm This gives lots of examples, but also points out that body-language is not an exact science, and that a single body language signal cannot be considered a reliable indicator.