Feeling the Pain

I’m a big fan of the tortured hero. I don’t just want my heroine to suffer; my hero has to suffer equally or more than my heroine for me to be drawn into the story. That’s true both for my own writing and for other books that I read. Maybe it’s because if both hero and heroine suffer, they both have a stronger connection to the relationship—they’ve both had to help each other overcome something to get to their HEA.

Emotional cues are more than just crying to show sadness and yelling to show anger. There are physical reactions that we all experience when in the throes of emotional turmoil. Accurately depicting those cues can draw the reader in and make them feel what the hero and heroine feel. In the course of my writing, I’ve found a number of sites online that have been helpful in showing emotional reactions. Unfortunately, when I switched computers, I somehow lost those sites. Luckily, my friends at RWA had some that they use. Some great resources are:

The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs & Body Language Cues (http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/6101.html). Click on one of the emotions, such as anger, and see photos and get descriptions of how different body parts react. It’s a great tool to use to avoid cliché expressions.

The Emotion Thesaurus http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2008/01/introducing-thesaurus-thursdays.html. This is a blog that lets you click on whatever emotion you need and provides a list of physical ways to describe them. Again, a terrific tool!

Craft by Joanna Waugh http://www.joannawaugh.com/Craft.html Again, a listing of physical traits.

There are many others out there, I’m sure. What do you use?

Characters faced with emotional Hell!

I strive for emotional stress within my romantic novels. I put my characters through hell. I have had one or two almost suicidal, but if emotional impact is your want from a romance then pushing one's characters to the limits of enduring true pain of love is a must. Plus, grief of misunderstandings is a great way to stretch reader participation in the sympathy stakes! 

I'm cruel, I know, but I love it!    

Rachet up the emotional stress

Emotional stress is manna for a romance. The HEA is sweet only if the hero and heroine have had to suffer for it.
Each character has his or her unique response to emotional stress, just like everyone we know. Some yell. Others cry.
Believable development and consistency of reaction is what I strive for.

The Cover, Your First Thousand Words

Thanks so much to Heroines with Hearts for having me here today!

A picture is worth how many words? (All together now ☺)

The cover is the reader’s first impression of your book. Its purpose is to catch her attention, and promises the kind of story inside. It gives a sense of what the book is about—not the whole story, as too many elements muddle the cover.
Covers happen in different ways. Here’s my journey for Biting Me Softly, art by the incomparable Natalie Winters.

First I submitted an art request through my editor. The request is a publisher-designed form that asks things like title, genre, time period and setting. It also asks for descriptions of the hero and heroine, a short summary of the story, and any author ideas, my chance to have input. Using a stock photography site, I found a perfect picture for hero Logan and included the link. My editor reviewed my request and forwarded it with her additions and changes to Natalie.

Natalie combined elements of my story (heroine Liese is a computer geek so the 010101 wallpaper is computer binary code) and my series (the bats flying up from the bottom left suggest vampire) with a truly spectacular pose of model Sam Bond to create a draft cover called the cover comp.

I loved the cover comp the minute I saw it. Although my publisher lets me give feedback, I didn’t have any changes—the cover is a significant investment in time and money and though sometimes changes are necessary (as when another cover uses the same pose) it’s important to have as much defined upfront as possible.
After my editor and I approved the art, it went to the publisher. The publisher has to consider things like fit with other releasing titles and overall impact, and knows what reaches readers best.

In the end, it’s all about reaching the reader with your story. The cover is simply your first 1000-word step.


Biting Me Softly is in bookstores around the US, and I’m celebrating by having a giveaway! Just comment on this post to enter. For a second chance, let me know the city or bookstore where you’ve seen Softly! Through May 29, 2011. --Adults only please. Winner will receive choice of Biting Me Softly in paperback (if U.S. or Canada) or one of Bite My Fire, Biting Nixie, The Bite of Silence or Biting Me Softly in ebook.

Biting Me Softly
He’s a candy box of sex appeal wrapped with a golden bow. She’s on a diet.

Blood, sex, violence. Blood, okay, but computer geek Liese Schmetterling had enough S&V when her cheating ex fired her. Now security expert—and lip-smacking gorgeous—Logan Steel saunters into her Blood Center, setting fire to her libido. And threatening her job.

Visions of pink slips dancing in her head, Liese tries to push Logan away without touching his jutting pecs…or ridged abs. Or petting the Vesuvius in his jeans. He’s hiding something, but it doesn’t seem to matter when his smiles stun her, his kisses crank her to broiling and his bites rocket her to heaven. Fangy bites which, if she weren’t grounded in science, would make her think ampire-Vay.

Centuries old and tragedy-scarred, Logan’s mission is to fortify the Blood Center’s electronic defenses against his nemesis, the leader of a rogue vampire gang. He’s ready for battle but not for Liese, who slips under his skin, laughs at his awful puns, charges beside him into dark, scary places—and tastes like his true love.
No matter how often Logan declares his love, Liese can’t bring herself to trust him. But when his archenemy comes after her, not trusting him may cost her life…

Warning: contains explicit vampire sex involving absurdly large male equipment (hey, they’re monsters), unbelievable stamina (just how long can he stay underwater in a hot tub?), hide-your-eyes violence and horrendously bad puns. And, just when you think it can’t get any worse, a computer geekette trying to play Mata Hari.

Buy at Samhain Publishing

Check In Stock at Barnes and Noble

Hugs from Hughes! Bestselling author Mary Hughes is a computer consultant, professional musician, and writer. At various points in her life she has taught Taekwondo, worked in the insurance industry, and studied religion. She is intensely interested in the origins of the universe. She has a wonderful husband (though happily-ever-after takes a lot of hard work) and two great kids. But she thinks that with all the advances in modern medicine, childbirth should be a lot less messy.
To learn more about Mary, please visit www.maryhughesbooks.com.

Learning Opportunities

The first thing I did when I decided I really wanted to get serious about publishing a novel was to join a local chapter of RWA. I was fortunate to have joined a group known nation-wide for its critiquing expertise. Chicago-North RWA is one fabulous bunch of talented and insightful writers. Being a part of this group (going on almost fifteen years now) has been the best learning experience a writer could ever have.

Each month we do three full critiquing sessions. As a rule, I never submit anything (whether it's to a contest or a publisher) before having taken the first chapter before the group in a critique session. The best part is, not only do I get to polish up my own work after it's been critiqued, but even when I'm not the critiquee, I learn so much from other's manuscripts and the comments made about them.

Another valuable learning tool is contests. Before I was published, I always entered new manuscripts into contests. The comments and feedback from contests (well, the reputable ones) is also very valuable. I've been fortunate enough to have some contests wins under my belt, which lookes nice in a query letter or on the brag page of a published book. Nowadays it's more difficult to find a contest that will accept new work from a published author, but it's not impossible.

I've also learned to listen to my editors. My first editor at Wild Rose, the fabulous Kat O'Shea, taught me a lot about writing. I still tend to write with her 'voice' in my head, especially when I'm editing. I have a different editor now, and I'm learning new things from her as well.

The most important thing about improving your writing as an author is to be open to learning new things. Listen to those who know what they're talking about. Writing is so often thought of as a lonely, solitary journey. It doesn't have to be that way at all.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

...With A Little Help From My Friends

Improving my writing is an ever-evolving process, and one that I’ve recently learned is much easier to do with other people’s help. I’m very protective of my writing. I don’t like showing it to people; in fact, it was a long time before I even told anyone, including my husband, that I was writing a book. So for a long time, my efforts to improve my writing were solitary endeavors. I’d read books or participate in online workshops. I finally got up the courage to attend a writer’s workshop at a local bookstore, and spent the entire time praying that I would not have to show anyone what I’d written.

When I joined RWA, I attended many of their conference workshops and found them helpful. Little by little, I realized as I spoke to fellow writers there, that we were all in the same boat. Slowly, I began to show people my writing, starting with query letters or synopses and eventually graduating to opening paragraphs or chapters.

I submitted to contests, with my heart in my throat each time I received back my packet with critiques from contest judges. The contests I chose to enter were those that offered feedback. My goal was not to win, but to get unbiased opinions on my work.  I poured over their comments, trying to determine which comments made the most sense to me. I chose agents and editors to submit to, based on listening to what they had to say at conferences and hoping that they’d send me back more than a form letter. Many of them were gracious enough to comment on my writing, and I used their comments to strengthen my writing for the future.

The best thing I ever did, though, was to find a critique partner whose judgment I trust. I put out a call for critique partners on a writer’s loop I belong to and received many interested responses. Through trial and error, that list of people whittled itself down to one. She is terrific! She’s older than I am and brings a different perspective to my writing. She’s got a keen eye for punctuation and grammar, as well as noticing repetitive words or descriptions. While I may not take all of her comments (just as she doesn’t take all of mine), I am grateful to her for making my writing stronger than it was before.

Writing is a solitary pursuit, which is one of the reasons I like it, but even I can’t do it alone.

Controversial subject on improving one's writing - How so?

This post for some, might seem a tad provocative and controversial in content!

But, here's advice on improving one's writing, and straight from a top-class editor's mouth.

So you want to be a novelist?

1) Forget 'How To Books' on writing a bestseller.

2) Read, read and read again books from Chaucer to Dickens to the latest top 100 bestsellers.

3) Write from the heart. Write, write and write again.

4) Read your manuscript until your eyes bleed. Make sure there are no typos and spelling mistakes.

5) Make sure to send it to a publisher who publishes your chosen genre.

As I see it, that's the best advice ever. But then, I'm an avid reader and always have been. I can't see the point in all the "How To Books" that are out there. Yes, such books pinpoint specifics as to how the How To authors' express themselves with words/style (voice) etc, in novels, but most of these books enforce the idea that there are rules and regulations within writing, which seemingly change with the wind. What might be in vogue for a few years (1st person POV) within say YA novels, could well change a year hence and leave those who've crafted the art of writing from one character perspective utterly in limbo. The getting inside two MC heads much less easy, because suddenly the author is faced with multiple viewpoint, which to others will be second nature. 

Being a woman there are times when as an author I have to think male perspective! Yes, I can ply my hubby for his perspective on certain things, because let's face it men don't ncessarily think differently than women but they don't say things quite as openly as women do. Men are more guarded, especially the loner types, whereas group mentality can appear more open but is often tainted by peer pressure influence and therefore what is said may not reflect a character's inner thoughts. 

To understand male desires and frusrations is quite difficult for a woman to quantify, but after reading "The Magus" by John Fowles, a novel about a man's inner desires and written 1st person POV, I felt I better understood how to express male perspective on sex, desire, male frustrations and associated consequences. So, yes, I think the best way to improve one's writing is to read the broadest spectrum of novels possible. It's not all about analysis of house style, writer voice and overall format, it's a way of feeling the writer ground beneath one's feet and finding one's writer path.

So why do some romance publishers always say on submission pages  "The best way to know what it is we look for in a romance novel, is to read a selection of our books from the line you propose to write for" ?  Great marketing strategy is that, and in turn creates tunnel vision of a wouldbe novelist lured by seeming high chance of publication without an agent's guiding hand. But, there's nothing worse than reading a book where a so-called arrogant hero thinks and reveals inner self via thoughts and woman talk!!!  ;)