B is for Baseball

Ana muses a bit about baseball.

My grandfather loved baseball, especially the Yankees. I would watch games with him when I was young, and he'd explain the game so it never seemed slow or boring. Its a game of strategy as much as skill.

The hero of my WIP was a minor league pitcher with a bright future until he violated curfew and celebrated a no-hitter by getting drunk and falling off a hotel balcony into a line of sturdy shrubs. The shrubs survived. His peripheral vision in one eye did not. He was let go, but dreams of returning to the game as a medic.

I know enough about baseball to have him describe things in baseball terms, but I'm finding some of my critique loop friends don't recognize the familiar (to me) terminology. So I'm trying to dial that back a bit, but not so much that I lose the hero's personality.

I don't want to swing and miss too many times with readers.

A is for Aquarius

Margaret talks about using star signs

 

Again I’m talking about using star signs to flesh out characters. Aquarius happens to be my own star sign – though I hasten to add that not all of these characteristics apply to me!

From one of my sources (Linda Goodman’s book of Sun Signs) Aquarian women are as paradoxical in love as in everything else; very faithful when they are in love but can be detached with a lack of emotion.

As long as they’re left free to see other friends and pursue their many other interests they can have a happy, loving relationship. Her dreams, though, are different to other people, she hears a distant drummer and follows a star most of us have never seen.

She’ll be glad to let a man take her hand and walk beside her as they watch the sunrise, but she doesn’t like to be distracted with too much togetherness. Oops! Is that really a heroine in one of my books? She does needs to be left alone sometimes though, to wander through her own little wonderland.

The quickest way to lose her is to show jealousy or possessiveness. Don’t dare criticise her, or dissect her private thoughts. On the other hand she will probe into a man’s heart until he hasn’t a secret left or a dream that hasn’t been analysed.

She’s never in a hurry to get married either, needing to weigh up the man in her life first. She needs to test him and find out what makes him tick.

 

 

A is for Amber

Amber is the heroine in Debra's This Feels Like Home

When I set out to write my Corral series, I knew one of my heroes would be Jake. And I always knew his book would be the third and last installment in the series. I knew Jake. I knew what his story was going to be about. In the letter to the reader at the beginning of the book it says this about Jake:

Jake was the guy always there for his friends, and who often helped them find their way down true love's path but planned on steering clear of love for himself, so he could focus on his rodeo career. But of course, we all know it takes just the right woman to come along and change a hero's mind, so I brought Amber into Jake's life.

Phrased like that, it seems simple. But actually bringing Amber into Jake's life was a lot harder than it sounds. I had a really difficult time finding someone who was good enough for Jake. I'd gotten to know Jake pretty well during the first two books, and I also knew whoever would ultimately be his heroine had to be pretty darn special. Worthy of my Jake.

Even coming up with a name for her wasn't easy. I went through oodles and oodles of lists and nothing sounded right. I wanted something with at least two syllables to off-set the single syllable of Jake. Finally while driving from here to there at some point, we passed a road called 'Winfield'. I liked the sound of it, and at least now I had a last name. Eventually, her first name came to me, and Amber Winfield was born.

Amber started out as a lawyer from Chicago. She'd be visiting her cousin and come across small town country boy Jake. The crux of their conflict would be the country boy/city girl lifestyle. A bit cliche, but I figured I could make it work.

Or not. I got a 'rejection' the first time I submitted. More of a...if you want to make some changes I'd love to look at this again type deal. One of the things the editor (not my usual one) said was definitely not working was Amber's job.

Okaaaaay.....

Since it was the third in a series, I wasn't going to give up on it, but changing her job was a HUGE deal. It wasn't just substituting another career for every time I mentioned the word 'lawyer'. There were pages and pages and entire scenes that had to be cut, revisited, changed. One suggestion the editor made was to shorten the book. Instead of making it a full-length, why not go with a novella?

Well, for several reasons. One, I'd still need to do something about her job, so shortening it didn't help there, and two, the first two books in the series were full-length available in print stories, and I wanted a matching set. Yes, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to stuff like that.

So eventually Amber wound up as a Certified Accessibility Consultant and Counselor. (Don't ask me how I got there. I seriously have no idea.) To quote Jake, "Now that's a mouthful." What it basically boils down to is Amber works with recently disabled people to help them try and cope with their new circumstances. Not only was this much, much less mundane than a lawyer, it helped add a layer of conflict to the story. Many of Amber's clients are people who have been injured doing extreme sports gone wrong. Jake, as a bull rider, is virtually addicted to the danger that has changed her clients' lives forever.

And thus a tag line was born: Can a danger-addicted cowboy and a safety-conscious urbanite ever see eye to eye?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

P.S. As an interesting aside, I was asked if I wanted this book to be part of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, which basically means Kindle would have the exclusive rights to the e-book version of this story. In turn, they publicize the heck out of it as part of the program, which ultimately should lead to more sales. I was torn. Seeing that it was part of a series and I wanted readers to be able to get all three books no matter where they shopped, I eventually declined. Through a mix up with my publisher, the title did wind up as a Kindle Unlimited. The owner of TWRP called me in person to apologize for the mix up. In the long term, however, it's been a good thing. When I got my royalty statement just this last week, I had sold over 100 copies of This Feels Like Home during the first quarter of the year. Now, granted, that won't get me on any best seller lists, however, it's a big jump from where sales had been before. AND this is a book that is three years old. MAYBE (or not) I've sold 100 copies total in the last three years, so that many all in one quarter is huge. And very exciting.

Now for this month, the book is part of Kindle's summer promotion and is on sale for the entire month of July. I'll be very curious to look at my sale's numbers for the second and third quarters of the year.

A is for Audio Book

Paula’s book is now available as an audio book - and she is offering vouchers for a free download

Last week, my contemporary romance, ‘Changing the Future’ was released as an audio book. I was involved, along with my publisher, in auditioning narrators, and also in the final choice of Stevie Zimmerman. Stevie then liaised with me about the ages and accents of the characters, and sent me the first few chapters for my approval. Although at first it seemed rather strange listening to my words spoken by someone else, I soon got used to this. Once I received the full version from Stevie, I was thrilled with how she has portrayed my characters, with different voice tones for each.

But now I have a small problem. I have several vouchers to give away for a free download of the novel – but I only know two people who actually listen to audio books! So I’ve decided to run a contest on my blog.

If you’re interested, please visit my blog at http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/win-free-download-of-changing-future.html

Or, if you know anyone who listens to audio books e.g. when driving or commuting or wherever, please send them the link to my blog.

Many thanks!

A Is For August

Jennifer talks about time of year as setting…

The setting of a story is as important as the characters. It’s what grounds the reader in time and place and provides a point of reference, especially in romances. Historical romance needs to portray accurate settings for the time period—everything from a regency ballroom to a Victorian mansion—and if they show anything that doesn’t fit with the time period, readers are the first to point it out.

Setting adds to and takes away from the story. Even in a contemporary romance, the details must be accurate. Winter on a farm is going to be different from fall in a small town. The US has a different feel from Europe.

Even something as simple as summer can demonstrate differences in location. Summer in a small town means fireflies and swimming in creeks or lakes or even at the beach. In a large city, though, you need to demonstrate the intensity of the heat reflecting off the cement, the heaviness of the air when mixed with the exhaust fumes of the taxicabs.

In my book, A Heart of Little Faith, a good part of the story takes place in August in New York city. The heat and humidity on the street contrasts with the cool blasts of air from the air conditioned buildings. The bright sunlight contrasts with the cool darkness inside. The heat brings on crankiness and requires extra planning when the characters are getting dressed.

In this scene, the hero and heroine, Gideon and Lily, are at a wedding of friends. The setting, including the temperature around them and the time of year, provide a backdrop to what is going on between the two characters:

Gideon stole a look at Lily. He studied her as she focused on the service. Her green eyes, emphasized by the green of her dress, sparked. They reminded him of sea glass. Her skin glistened and his hand moved on its own accord to rub her back, exposed by her backless dress. Would her skin feel as soft as it looked? It did, and he ran his hand up and down her spine. Her mouth curved in a small smile of bliss and he would have sworn she shivered, but whether it was from his touch or the slight chill in the church, he couldn’t say for certain. She leaned into his arm though, and he kept his hand on her back as he returned his attention to the front of the church.

When the mass and the ceremony ended, they went outside to await the bride and groom’s exit. After the dim light of the church, the bright sunlight blinded them momentarily and Lily groped for Gideon’s shoulder. He paused to assist her as the heat from the hot summer day hit him in the face. One of the attendants gave them each a bottle of bubbles and a moment later, the newly married couple emerged to a shower of bubbles and rose petals. Tony followed them out and stopped briefly to chat with Gideon and Lily.

What elements play into your settings and flesh them out?

A is for Ammi Folkright

Ana introduces her new heroine.

She walks into a lecture hall, where the new-on-the-job hero is subbing for his boss and giving a night class to nursing students. This is what he sees:

            At first glance, she resembled a Nordic gypsy. Black leggings under a colorful past-the-knee skirt that looked sewn from a dozen oversized scarves. Hip-hugging, hand-knitted sweater with domed silver buttons and mammoth pockets. Clunky felt-lined winter boots.  

            A cloud of curly jet-black hair framed this woman’s delicate oval face. The ruddy color on her cheeks suggested she’d walked some distance across campus before coming indoors.

            Intense blue eyes locked onto his as she stepped close. The scent of spring lilacs floated around her. “Where’s Dr. Puissard?”

            “I’m subbing for him this evening. Galen Thomas, PA.” He held out his hand.         

            She squeezed once and let go. Her fingers were calloused and cold. She wasn’t a typical nursing student.

            His palms tingled. He liked women who didn’t dress like mall store mannequins. Mysterious women who had more on their minds than responding to their friends’ social media posts.