Hearts and Handcuffs

What I really mean to say...

2011-09-21T14:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, let's talk about word choice for a moment. It's actually kind of a broad topic (word confusion, passive verbs, unfortunated imagery), so we'll see how far we get.

First, let's talk about word confusion. There are many excellent resources for not mixing up your words, and very poor reasons for continuing to do so. I think there are a couple of basic ways in which word confusion comes about: one, the words are homonyms, and you just can't keep them straight. Some have closely related meanings. Homonyms can often be corrected by simply pronouncing the word aloud and stressing the confusing syllable. "The sun effected my tan." Really? Well, I suppose so, since one of the meanings of "effect" is "cause" or "create." But in this case, you probably mean "affected," and if you'll just read the two sentences aloud, you'll figure that out. Imminent and eminent are two others, although they don't get confused nearly as often as they ought to, because they aren't USED as often as they ought (to be). Digression: see the "to be" in parentheses? We usually leave that sort of thing off the end of our sentences. If you'd add things like that (logical conclusions, that is) to your sentences, you'd probably stop confusing words like "me" and "I."

Other frequently confused words: to and too (fortunately, "two" doesn't come into play much!). "Too" means also, as well ... you don't go too a restaurant, and you don't go to the restaurant, to. They're, there, and their. Oh, God, and while I'm thinking about it, let's .... no, let's don't. There's a whole post on the proper use of the apostrophe. Back to word confusion. "They're" is clearly an abbreviation of the phrase "they are." Therefore, when you mean "they are," you can use "they're," but not "there." "Their" is a possessive. That's enough for anyone. It doesn't need to have any other aspects. "Their plans went awry when they saw the man standing there, looking at them, thinking 'they're tourists.'"

Secondly, word confusion comes into play when you are trying to make your writing sound smarter. Yeah. Skip it. Or look it up. If you have a character who is exceptionally erudite, and you need the more unusual words to firm up the characterization, have an English teacher or well-read friend check your vocabulary use. (Note: if you are that friend, you obviously don't need my suggestions, so you can go ahead and skip this post in favor of something more interesting than vocabulary lessons.) If you have to look up the meaning of "erudite," you should probably do that as well. I frequently read stories that tempt me to quote the guy from the Princess Bride: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

In the same way, word confusion happens when you're trying--desperately!--to find a synonym, any synonym, because someone (a critique partner, an editor, a judge) has told you you've used the word "remarkable" six times in the same paragraph. So you look for a word that gets your point across, and it doesn't, not really (see quote above).

One last note: not so much on word confusion as on POV/description. Often I read entries--and sometimes published novels--where the description includes something that the POV character cannot possibly have noticed, but the author chooses to describe it within the POV character's experience. "He looked across the room into her beautiful blue eyes and instantly fell in love." First, "he" isn't going to fall in love at first sight. Lust, sure. But it ain't going to be her eyes he's looking at. But I digress (yes, again). Even if he's an "eye" man, I want you to try an experiment yourself. Look at someone you don't know across a room, and tell me what color his/her eyes are. Especially when it's dark. Especially when there's so much else going on, the fact that you noticed this person's eyes at all is a small miracle.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

Head hopping: or, whose life is this, anyway?

2011-09-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Head hopping is the description writers give scenes where the point of view shifts frequently--sometimes from one paragraph to the next. It can be done by a very skillful (and famous) writer. The rest of us should avoid it at all costs.

Here's what I mean: First, that isn't a slam against "famous" writers. Lord knows, I'd like to be one. Generally, though, a fiction writer who is famous for their fiction (not a celebrity turned fiction writer, in other words) has the ability to tell a story in a way that they can gloss over craft details that the rest of us ought to pay close attention to. Skillful storytelling can absorb a reader so deeply that Winne the Pooh could be narrating your thriller, and no one would notice.

But for most of us, head hopping sends the reader into a tailspin trying to figure out what's going on--especially if dialogue is involved. And the minute your reader jumps out of the story to figure out who's telling the story, you've lost them. Which isn't to say you won't get them back, but why not leave the whole scene in one point of view: that with the highest stakes. The goal, as I've told more than one contest entrant in comments, is to keep the reader turning pages, enthralled.

Deep POV: what and why

2011-09-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm judging writing contests this week, in addition to the usual writing+editing+proofreading gigs. I cut wayyyyyyy back on the judging this year: only two contests. I like judging—like seeing what ideas other writers come up with, like seeing the drafts of books that I hope will make it onto the shelves one day. But there's a lot going on this summer, so judging dropped off the to-do list. Needless to say, it does get me thinking about the craft of writing. This week, I'm going to post primarily on issues I frequently see in contest submissions, why I think they matter, and what I think can be done to improve them. Keep in mind, of course, that this is one writer's (and reader's!) opinion.

First, POV. Point of view. There's a section on POV in every contest I've ever judged, but often we (writers and judges) assume it's going to be handled just fine—after all, it's handled just fine in the books we read, right? And how bad could it possibly get, as long as the asses get kicked (I read a lot of romantic suspense and thrillers), the hero/heroine beat the bad guy and fall in love and we all have some fun or terror (or both) along the way.

Wrong. Point of view can go horribly wrong, or a little bit wrong, and when it does, regardless of the degree, it impacts the story in ways we often don't think about.

Styles vary. I learned to write romance in a group of writers who take deep POV very seriously, and I'm good with that. Deep POV drags me into the story in a way that shallow POV doesn't. In case this is new to you—you're a newbie searching the web and ran across this, here are some quick definitions:

Point of view: generally abbreviated POV, it's being in the head (or heart) of a particular character, experiencing through her: seeing what she sees, hearing what she hears, etc.

Deep POV: the deeper the POV, the less the reader sees that the POV character doesn't. I remember a scene in one of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood novels where the POV was so deep it was almost frustrating...until I realized how brilliant it was, because the character was blind. There were no visuals in the scene. Deep POV also means pulling out every instance of the words "thought" "felt" "knew" "decided" ... you get the idea....that you can. When I (reader) see those words, I "hear" the author; I don't live the heroine's experience.

Omniscient POV: this is essentially the narrator or author POV. You know, the person who knows everything about the story. This is what I call also "shallow" POV, and it may be beautiful, absolutely lyrical, but it leaves the reader in the role of admiring observer. A lot of literary fiction involves nicely done omniscient POV, but you rarely find it in well-written commercial fiction, where the pace is faster and the intention is to grab the reader and not let go. This is not to bash literary fiction or its emotional appeal in any way. It's just different. If you're writing commercial fiction, go deep.

Why it matters. The deeper the POV is, the more the reader is living the character's experiences. If I (the author) tell you the heroine got shot and it hurt like hell, no matter how I've built the tension up to this point, so you jump when it happens, and no matter how lyrical my language. Contrast: 'He raised the gun. It loomed, a black hole swallowing everything else in the room. Everything slowed. Slow motion, just like the movies. Before she could do more than swallow against the sudden nausea, the bullet slammed into her shoulder, searing a white-hot path. The impact spun her into the bookshelf, jarring the pain loose, spreading into her throat. She choked on it. Bile rose, burning. Spots danced before her eyes. The keening echoing in her ears turned out to be her own voice, nearly drowning out his footsteps and the slam of the door." Or this—and I have seen this (well, I've seen similar: I promise I'm not quoting anyone I've ever read or critiqued!). "She watched as he raised the gun. "Crap," she thought. "I'll never get out of the way in time." She knew the gun couldn't be as big as it looked; remembered reading that was the problem with eyewitness testimony, that she was exaggerating it because she was so afraid. Then she felt the impact as the bullet slammed into her. It hurt like hell. Then she hit the bookshelf, and that hurt even more. She screamed from the pain." Okay, those aren't great examples, since I wrote them off the top of my head, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow: head hopping, or "who's talking now?"

New(ish) review for Heat Index

2011-09-05T11:12:00.000-04:00

Heat Index picked up a very nice review while I was on vacation several weeks ago.

Heat Index by Lara Dien was a quick read for me, seemed I just started when I finished it. Aidan is a character that can make your pulse quicken and your heart melt, he is the perfect combination of brains and beauty while Jenna is his perfect female counterpart. The relationship between them gets off to a hot and steamy start and I thought it was going to be one of those books where in two days the man and woman just decided they were fated to be together, get married and have babies. Heat Index has a nice twist where careers are involved and the characters are separated by several state lines, her in Baton Rouge and him in Canada. So even though it was a short story Heat Index allowed time to pass without compromising the story. If you are interested in a heavy erotic tale that has a sweet underlying love story in it I would definitely recommend Heat Index to you.

You can read the full review here:

http://www.sizzlinghotbooks.net/2011/07/heat-index-by-lara-dien.html?zx=ddd633786618f9f5

Formally on hiatus

2010-12-12T12:56:00.000-05:00

After almost six months of not touching this blog, here's the formal announcement: I am on hiatus from blogging about writing, books, creativity, and so forth. I need to narrow my focus to get some serious work done, and this is lurking at the back of my mind, ready to pounce. So I'm putting it in a cage and locking it away.

I DID finally post today over at Conscious Sanity, which is my other blog. If you want to follow what I'm thinking over there, it's http://www.conscioussanity.blogspot.com/. For updates on my books and other writing news, please visit my website: http://www.heartsandhandcuffs.com/. I will also be updating that site more frequently.

I'm not abandoning this blog completely, just streamlining my life a bit. I expect to come back to the subjects this blog covers later in 2011.

OPB: Book in a Month, by Victoria Schmidt

2010-06-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

I picked this up on a whim while looking for books to use as giveaways at my local chapter meeting. Then I thought I'd give it a try. Then I realized, the only way to write a book in a month, at least the way this author suggests it, requires an eight hour a day commitment, or a very short book. Think about it. If I wanted to write even a sixty thousand word book in a month, that's roughly 2,000 words a day writing. For me, that's approximately two hours (on average, if I don't stop for research – like the half hour spent last night viewing a video on the local ME's office – I can write 1,000 words an hour). Of course, I write romantic suspense, single title length. Now we're up to 3,000 words a day, unless I assume (this is a rough draft after all) that I'll add roughly 30,000 words in the revisions. So for now, we'll go with a very simple story for this rough draft, of about 55 – 60k. So I've got two hours of writing a day. That's fine. But day 2 of the BIAM program required me to write out ten scene cards. With characters, action, etc. Other days require other actions like creating character charts and so on. My writing day just became five hours long. I have a full-time job; I don't have five hours a day to write. I have three, since I think my co-workers would appreciate my continuing to do things like shower.

However...the information in the book—the ideas on structuring the process—I thought were very helpful – I just don't think I'm going to be kicking out twelve rough drafts a year!

Research: writing acronyms

2010-06-24T06:00:00.001-04:00

From last week: Note to self: next week, blog on the weird phrases writers use to describe characters.

My personal favorite: HMG (I might have made that up) – HMGs, simply, are hot men with guns. A particular type of Alpha male, in other words. Not necessarily a hero – you could certainly have a bad guy who's an HMG, although I suppose we do tend to write them as sort of weasel-y.
Too Stupid To Live: someone who is too stupid to live is someone who does something that is not only unrealistic, it's inexplicable. TSTL is going into the abandoned house in the middle of the woods late at night (The Blair Witch Project was full of people who were TSTL.). It's going INTO the basement when you hear the noise, instead of GTFOOD (getting the heck out of Dodge) and calling the cops. It is, in fact, investigating a murder all on your own instead of leaving it to the HMGs. Needless to say, TSTL happens a lot in books (Margaret Atwood once wrote a vignette called "In Praise of Stupid Women" – because without them, we wouldn't have any good stories), but requires very, very good motivation to pull off without people wanting to bang the book against a wall.
Bad boy: A Bad Boy should not be confused with a Bad Guy – they are not at all the same. A Bad Boy is the guy you can't take home to mother, although if he'd just wake up and smell the baby's breath, he'd realize you are the one woman who makes life in the slow lane worth living. A Bad Guy you can't take home to mother because you don't want him to know where you live. Bad Boys, of course, generally turn out to be very Good Men and they all live happily ever after.

Midweek Creativity Block-buster

2010-06-23T20:21:00.002-04:00

I tried something new this week while plotting scenes for Ghost Town. I am not a pre-plotter by any means, although I think I'm going to take a class next month that will improve my ability to do just that. And I've found that it's easier for me to plot scenes rather than chapters—scenes are a much more complete unit. But I still get stuck sometimes at the end of a scene. In romantic suspense, especially, there are at least a couple of good options for where to go next (at least if you write multiple points of view).

For the fun of it, I pulled out a tarot deck and simply asked the question: for the next scene I should write, what's the goal, motivation, and conflict? I pulled three cards—one for each detail and let my brain go to work. It was different, kind of fun, and jump-started my thinking from the "stuck" point.

New website

2010-06-22T06:00:00.001-04:00

I finally decided to resurrect my website. I'd taken it down because I wasn't really seeing the payoff and needed to put the money toward other things last year. But then I started getting this "hey, you, over here" from the Universe and this weekend, decided I should pay attention.

And then I realized it's been about a year to the day since I took it down. How weird is that?

However, in the meantime, someone took my original website name (under my pen name) and turned it into a blog of some sort. I swear it looks like the kind of thing someone does just to hold onto the name in hopes that someone will come buy it off them.

So I started asking for input (or confirmation, whatever happened first) from friends, family, writing colleagues, you name it. The result is very pink (I'm working from a Yahoo template because I'm not an artist and at the moment, need to spend my money on things other than a fabulous website), but it will give you excerpts from most of my books (my latest is up on the home page with a blurb, not an excerpt) and a link to the Wilder Roses website to buy (you'll need to pull me up on the list of authors, and then you'll get a page with all my works on it). The website is Hearts and Handcuffs.

Monday morning update

2010-06-21T07:03:00.002-04:00

I've updated my WIP list (right) to show last week's progress, plus I added a progress bar for Ghost Town. I'll try to add progress bars for everything else this weekend. Just for the pretty pictures.

Ghost Town – added 4,322 words (as of Saturday night, but I updated the progress bar on Sunday, so they don't actually match).

Elemental – Urp. Again.

Dance with Me – another Urp. So much for my ambitions.

OPB: Wild Heat, by Bella Andre

2010-06-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me very well (as a writer, that is) knows how much I like and respect Bella Andre's work. When I was first digging in to research erotic romance (from the, but can I WRITE this stuff????? perspective), her work kind of blew me away. Most of my personal reading is much more hard-hitting—I read almost zero straight romance—but in writing erotic, I discovered I had a couple of challenges: one, if I was going to write something fairly short, and if the emphasis was going to be on the erotic experience between my hero/heroine, there weren't going to be a lot of dead bodies (if you need to, go ahead and take a breath now, and then look up at the header for my blog—the handcuffs I'm referring to go on the bad guys. Usually.) and tense situations. Challenge number two: I didn't fell any real inclination to write "kink." What I liked—what I still like—is telling a really hot story about two people coming to terms with each other and having lots of hot sex along the way. When I found Bella Andre's books, it was an affirmation that you could write those stories, and sell them! Woohoo! Okay, maybe you can't sell as many of them as you can the ones with ménage, or BDSM, or what have you, and seriously, I tried. DANCE was originally supposed to be a ménage, but I just can't figure out how to write it that way. No, not because of THAT – I can figure out the mechanics just fine. It's the motivation I have problems with. That's not to say one day I won't figure it out, but now, not so much. So back at the ranch....

Then Bella Andre went mainstream. There're actually more books out, but for now: reviewing one. Part of me was curious about how hot she kept the stories (no pun intended). As you know, I'm published in erotic romance, but I really want to have my longer, non-erotic-but-still-erotic stories out there. And I'm not Cheyenne McCray. So while I knew SHE could do it, and had, what about Bella Andre? So here's what I think. Wild Heat, which I think is her first mainstream, is a romantic suspense with an extraordinary hero (and extraordinary heroes in the other two I've read. In fact the books are connected through the heroes, and Bella, if you're reading this? I cried through at least half of NEVER TOO HOT.), an interesting heroine, and a setting I could really love. It moved a little slow for me at the beginning – there's a lot of describing what these guys do – I got the feeling there was more research and less understanding than in books like RED HOT REUNION and TAKE ME, where whatever research was done was more or less seamlessly integrated into the story. But, you ask, what about the sex????? Patience, grasshopper.

Yes, there's sex. Not as much as I'd expected, given where I was coming from, having read her other works. It's on par with most hot romance today (graphic, on the page, but not overly detailed as in erotic romance). Having said that, she writes those scenes very well. So not only did I thoroughly enjoy the story (and oh, wouldn't I love meeting someone like Sam MacKenzie, hero of the second hotshots book, HOT AS SIN), I am once again inspired.

Research

2010-06-17T06:00:00.001-04:00

Writing is life. Everything else is research.

One of these days, I'm putting that on a t-shirt. Might even trademark it first. Maybe I'll make a fortune.

Or not. But I swear, some days feel like that. I have friends who've gotten used to my comments driving down the road about the lives I make up for people on the road in front of me (especially if they're driving extraordinarily badly). Most pieces of my life involve trivia that get filed away in my brain (or maybe now on better-organized pieces of paper, thanks to David Allen and the GTD system). You never know when you'll need to know what wine to serve with steak when writing a romance. Or when a phrase might come in handy, even if it's a silly one – I have successfully used really bad euphemisms (it helps if you make it clear they're bad) in stories, and, recently, the phrase "too stupid to live." (Note to self: next week, blog on the weird phrases writers use to describe characters).

Sometimes life involves explicit research, though. I'm applying to go through the civilian police academy, for example. I have no idea whether I'll be able to—the rules seem pretty basic, though, and I pass both the ones posted on the website—but how cool is that? One writer I know has done it, and enjoyed it very much (or claims to, anyway). There's one offered by both local law enforcement agencies in my town, but I can't do both – or at least not at the same time, since they overlap and meet on the same day of the week (go figure). I'm trying hard not to beat myself up with "I should have done this years ago," but really, I should have done it years ago.

Because everything is research.

Midweek Creativity Block-buster

2010-06-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

Today I'm going to suggest some things to trick your mind into being more creative.

I'm not talking about the specifics of working through a particular creative problem – more a jump start to get your brain moving in a less linear fashion.

Random Sentence Generator: You've seen random name generators, right? (If you haven't, just do a search in your favorite search engine. I find them not terribly useful, but they're kind of fun to look at once in a while.) The idea is essentially taking a name from column A, a name from column B, and sometimes column C and putting them together. This can be especially fun if you look for something that generates names for a particular group of people who choose their names for special reasons. It is not quite the same as discovering your stripper name which for some reason always seems to include the name of your first pet...but I digress.

For the random sentence generator, since I'm going to have to do this all up front (when I threw it at my RWA group, I told them what I wanted but not why), on separate slips of paper write three colors. On another three slips of paper, write three planets. On a third set, three animals. Toss these into a hat (or three, your choice) and draw three slips of paper out. Create a sentence with these three items. Could be something like: The blue cat from Mars stopped by for a visit.

Then you get to have fun. When I did this hot-seat style, I got volunteers, had them read their sentences aloud, and then started asking random questions: what's the cat's motivation? Who's going to play the cat in the movie? Why Mars?

Go for it. And if something sparks an idea that solves a problem for you, I'll be happy to have lent a hand.

Becoming Organized

2010-06-15T06:00:00.002-04:00

On any given day, my 'to-do' list is something like 200 items long.

That doesn't include the fact that a large number of items on that list are multi-step projects in themselves. For example, on my work to-do list, currently 140 items, one item is "add webpages according to list." "According to list" being the magic words. The list of webpages to be created is, itself, about forty items long. It would be longer if it wasn't all in my head, I'm sure. Now, to be fair, that's partly because my day job lends itself well to serious segmentation, so forty or fifty webpages is not as complicated as it sounds, but they do have to be researched (including art) and written.

I am a VERY good juggler of priorities, and a pretty organized person. I keep my to-do list in an Excel spreadsheet, because it's much easier to update that way.

But I'm always looking for ways to improve productivity – to keep from being overwhelmed by the fact that also on any given day I'm quite likely to have anything I'm working on being interrupted by a dozen urgent items, and my own willingness to go off on a tangent (I'm great at tangents.), Plus, you know those people who never throw anything away because they "might need it someday"? I'm like that with information. So I tend to get buried under piles of it. Usually in paper form, because I'm old fashioned and I read better on paper (someday, the tale of how I got to be e-published!).

Enter David Allen and "Getting Things Done." Allen's system of organizing your life is perhaps the most appealing I've found (and I've looked at a lot of them). I found him while off on a tangent (of course). Seth Godin was probably the starting point – he usually is – and I ended up, directly or indirectly – at Scott Belsky (watch for a review of Making Ideas Happen soon) and the99percent.com and from there to something else that recommended the book. Which I promptly got and read. Allen, among others, suggests looking at the things in your life – complete or incomplete – as projects. As a creative person, I understand projects. But my life?

Cool. Because projects = steps = things to take action on. And my 'to-do' list, not to mention my piles-o-paper, start to come under control. Two hours of working with his system and I feel better already, because the first step in processing, he says, once everything is in your in-basket, is to decide whether things are actionable or not, and if not, they go in one of three places: trash, reference, or "someday". Whew. So much of my paper overload can be handled by simply treating it as a reference, NOT as something I have to do something with (thus keeping it on my mind).

I started with my home office this weekend, am tackling my office at work this week. Will let you know how it helps and how fast.

Monday morning update

2010-06-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

I've updated my WIP list (right) to show last week's progress, but for those of you playing at home, here's the math:

Heat Index – finished revisions and submitted to editor at TWRP. Now we wait.

Ghost Town – added 3,919 words and identified sixty pages worth of scenes to be researched. Maybe fifty-nine. One of the coolest things about starting a new book is all the new stuff I get to learn, but I'd really like it if I could just plug into an info IV or something and download it while I write. I get really impatient.

Elemental – Urp. Didn't add anything to this, although I jotted some notes about places I want the story to go.

Dance with Me – my new erotic romance. Up to 2,576 words. Truthfully, if I don't feel like thinking very hard, this is what I'm gonna work on. Not that these are easier to write – YOU try writing an expressive, sexy love scene sometime. But I don't have to research drug laws or missing persons investigations to do it.

My writing goals this week are ambitious. I'm not crossing my fingers – too hard to type that way – and it will sort of depend on how much research I can get done, too. Right now I'm bookmarking things to come back to almost as fast as I'm typing new stuff into GT. Maybe I should count the words in my emails out to my contacts?

At any rate, I've set a general goal of adding 10k to GT each week, 7k to Elemental (hah!) and 5k to Dance.

OPB: Move your stuff, change your life

2010-06-11T06:00:00.003-04:00

I somehow lost Friday's post! I thought it was scheduled, but apparently I'd only managed to save the draft of it--so here 'tis, a rare Sunday post!

This is currently one of my favorite books, although I've had it for several months. I've used the principles of feng shui to one degree or another for many years, although not consistently (consistency would probably help), and a few months ago I read something – I don't even remember what – and the author recommended this book. The author is Karen Rauch Carter, the book is Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life, and it is one of the easiest, most useful, feng shui books I've ever come across. Plus, she writes with the kind of humor I appreciate, and let's face it, an entertaining book is even more helpful.

Throughout the book, Carter suggests simple "cures" (fixes) for the different sectors of your house, office, what have you, including – my favorite – the idea that color can impact the space, or a cure can impact a space, without it even being visible. Don't want to put purple and gold in your prosperity corner because it clashes with the red/green tartan drapes? Slid a piece of gold or purple paper under the bed or sofa. Don't have the time or resources to fix everything at once? Start with paper baguas (those are the 8-sided figures used in feng shui) in the appropriate colors, or by moving stuff around that you already have. Very easy, very cool, very not about going out and buying a whole new house.

Research

2010-06-10T06:00:00.001-04:00

Every once in a while – Monday, Wednesday and Friday – I realize I know the coolest people. At least, given what I write. (If I wrote sweet romances, I might find them a little disturbing, but, then, I will never -- or almost never – be that person. I wrote a sweet romance once, but it was only about 1,200 words and even then there was sex, you just didn't see any of it on the page.) In Ghost Town, one of my characters started speaking a language I didn't expect (I was expecting Spanish or Creole, she started speaking Portuguese. I tried to convince her, but no, she insisted.). So I ended up changing her place of birth to Brazil. Which was fine, but then I had to base my criminal activity – or, rather, my bad guys' criminal activity – in Brazil.

Luckily, I know someone who knows that.

For Elemental, my heroine's career as an interior designer is an important part of the plot. Luckily, I know people who do exactly what I needed my heroine to be able to do.

Sometimes, the research is more subtle. Although for The Fortuneteller's Lay I drew on what I know about the cards to create a new layout, and what I know about renaissance festivals and the like from friends who are interested in such things to create the setting for most of the story (I made up the spa part), in a lot of my stories, the research might provide just a detail or two. For Bad Enough...okay, that research (for the backdrop plot) I did online. But researching the climate of Costa Rica (as well as sunset/sunrise) gave me the poachers that Rafe was looking for. For Hungarian Masquerade, a friend who'd recently done a vampire tour in Eastern Europe was more helpful than she realized (not that there's much in that story except the really hot sex, but it's the setting in my mind, don'tcha know...). For Emerald Ecstasy, ghost hunting friends, friends who've sent me pictures of castles in Scotland and Ireland...all very helpful.

For Heat Index...I'm making up so much stuff it isn't funny. But I've friends in the liquor business, and that led to some more of those details that kind of make the story.

Writing is life. Everything else is research.

Creativity Block – buster

2010-06-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

What stops creativity in its tracks? Presenting my creativity blockbuster workshop a few months ago, I heard someone say 'teenagers' right about the time someone said 'life trauma' and a phrase was born...what truly can bring creativity to a screeching halt? Trauma and drama. The big difference between the two is that trauma is something there's really no work around for. Drama is generally something we choose to let stop us.

It's always, always a matter of priorities. That is not to say writing must always be the priority – in no way is that the case. Life happens. You, and only you, can decide if life ought to stand in the way of your writing, or if you're using it as an excuse.

RWA Conference

2010-06-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

So the big news is I'm going to conference this year (my first). Then, the horrible storms that came through the first week of May and ravaged Nashville caused the conference to be relocated to Orlando. While I was looking forward to visiting Nashville for the first time in decades, and staying at the fabulous Gaylord there, I'm also looking forward to having a much shorter drive.

Also, I won't need a plant sitter.

It'll be just like going to work, except there'll be more fiction involved.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

2010-06-07T07:00:00.003-04:00

In cartoons, that's the narrator's voice alerting you to the fact that Huckleberry Hound is about to get in a shoot-em-up with Yosemite Sam (or something).

In books, it's the "time passes" problem – if you want to know why the author ended one scene as they're getting into the car, and started the next scene when they arrive at the motel, it's because nobody said anything incriminating, or even remotely interesting, on the drive. They were playing the alphabet game or something.

When a blogger (c'est moi) misses three months of blogging...well, it's not so much that nothing interesting was happening, as that writing and doing are two different things. Actually, I was spending most of my time working. I've cut back on that some, because although working is terribly useful for keeping bankers and utility companies happy, it doesn't leave room or energy for much else. Also, I was spending an awful lot of time on chapter stuff (RWA chapter, not book chapter).

But I'm back, hopefully for good.

I've updated my WIP list (right) as well as book links. I took a vacation from work last week to do a bit of decompressing and a bit of writing – actually, I spent far more time decompressing than writing, so I guess I needed it – and last week's progress (even with all the down time) was good:

Dreamwalk – on hold while I decide what to do with it (besides chuck it under the bed for posterity)

Resurrection – same (actually, it's not in as bad shape, but I really needed to start some fresh projects this week instead of beating myself up over stuff already going on. I figure a month off from both will give me some much needed perspective.).

Heat Index – Heat started the week at 63 pages. This is a "revise and resubmit" piece, so I didn't check the word count before I started. By Saturday night (Sunday starting a new writing week) it was at 71 pages.

Ghost Town – new romantic suspense, target 90,000 words. It started the week at somewhere around 1,000 words. As of Saturday night, it was at 7,772.

Elemental – new romantic mystery, started this week. Saturday night it was at 3,654

OOPS

2010-03-27T21:07:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I let another two months go by without posting (here, at least). I can honestly say it's because I've been too busy to do much more than scramble to get the latest and greatest whatever done. I'm pushing research on creativity, revising my workshop, working on the novel, and trying to find time to revise Heat Index so I can resubmit it. And, you know, work and life and that sort of thing.

But top of my to-do list is to outline a set of blog posts, starting Monday. And my new book cover is up on the blog sidebar (isn't it pretty?). I'll be posting an excerpt soon--the release date is April 16. It's a yummy, sexy story with a castle, a ghost, a buried treasure and a man in a kilt...and lots of the hot sex Lara Dien stories are known for.

OPB: Silent Night, Haunted Night

2010-02-02T20:24:00.002-05:00

All I haunt for Christmas...

Here's the deal: if you like funny (dark), sexy (not so dark), brilliant paranormal mystery/romance/whatever, and you haven't read the Nikki Styx books by Terri Garey yet, stop reading this and go buy them wherever you can find them. I've been horribly remiss in reviewing any of them, and it was only a newsletter from Terri today that reminded me...what was I thinking?

In a nutshell, Nikki Styx has a near death experience (well, more like a death, but didn't stay there experience) in Dead Girls are Easy. It opens her up to seeing and hearing ghosts, and a whole lot more (A Match Made in Hell). It gets worse from there (You're the One that I Haunt) when Sammy (the original bad boy, if you know what I mean) decides to take revenge on Nikki for spurning his advances, and by the time Christmas rolls around in time for the latest--Silent Night, Haunted Night--you seriously have to wonder if Nikki's going to make it, and, more importantly, is Dr. Joe Bascombe going to be there with her. Watching the love relationship grow over the first three books is nothing to wondering if it's going to survive SNHN. And the other big characters--Nikki's best friend, Evan, especially--get better and deeper as the series goes along, too: in my mind, there's nothing more you can ask of a writer (especially one writing crossover or continuing characters) than that the characters continue to grow and get deeper and more real as the books come out. My favorite writers--Karen Rose, Marcia Muller, Lisa Gardner--they all do the same: they simply get better, the more they write. Terri Garey--although she doesn't have the same number of books under her belt as the others--is well on her way to achieving that--Nikki Styx's world gets more colorful and more real with every book.

I can't wait for the next one--bring on the bad boy himself!

Goals Update

2010-02-01T20:43:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of the year I said I'd do a monthly update on the blog--sort of a public accountability exercise (or a quasi-public, para-accountability exercise, or something....). And look, here it is, February 1.

So how's it going?

Well...well. I'm 13,000 words+ into the new novel. Trying very hard to just write this one without editing myself to death as I go along. I think what I'm going to try is to get about halfway through, then do a deliberate edit with layering in the things that matter to me: sensory/sensual detail, tension; checking the balance between expository narrative, action, and dialogue; making sure the reader sees (more or less) what I see. But I'm semi-happy with the progress--I'd intended to have a higher daily average, but I've had several really good days, so I think that's going to improve.

Heat Index: revising.

And last, but certainly not least: Emerald Ecstasy. I should have galleys any day, and then I'll have a release date. Yippee! Guess it's time to add the cover to my cover list on the right. I remember at the worst possible times....

POV: Immersion

2010-01-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

POV immersion: reading Lover Avenged, by JR Ward, I hit a page that was an object lesson in over-your-head-deep point of view. Spoiler alert: if you haven’t read it and don’t want to know, stop reading NOW.

Okay, the rest of you with me?

There is a point in the book where Wrath, the king of the vampires, goes completely blind. And yet, several sections of the book are in his POV. So I’m on this one page that’s in his POV and finding it very frustrating. Someone brings him a seeing eye dog to help him, and it’s all very emotional because no one wants to admit that this might be permanent, and it’s frustrating as hell that I don’t really get what’s going on here…and it hits me. There is not a single thought – not a single word – on that page that is anyone’s point of view but his. Nothing about the dog until someone says something. But that someone doesn’t say anything until Wrath goes first. So we – the readers – uncover the story the same way he does. Guess what? He’s frustrated as hell, too.

How many of us would have someone else speak, or something happen to make it clear to the reader before it was clear to the POV character’s own senses? Even in the smallest of ways, would we find a way to drop a hint to the reader what’s happening even if the POV character knows (and doesn’t need to be retold…the famous “As you know,” conversational device), no one would think of telling him (“here, I brought you this dog”), or wouldn’t pay attention to (the rain on the roof, three stories above his head, woke him), just to set the scene for the reader instead of allowing them to be so fully immersed in the story that she/he was living it with the character?

The evils of multi-tasking (hint: TASKING!)

2010-01-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

Raise your hand if you are a great multi-tasker.
Raise your hand if you can’t remember the last time you crossed the last item off your to-do list.
Raise your hand if you only see the bottom of your in-box (the paper-holding kind) when you pull everything out of it to make sure you aren’t missing something.

When was the last time you recharged your batteries by giving yourself permission to do nothing? Better yet, when was the last time you demanded that you do nothing?

Remember the traffic jam analogy? I had one of those days earlier this week that really brought it home to me. You know the kind—you can’t get anything done without at least one interruption that actually pulls you away from it to do something else. I looked at my desk at one point and realized I’d nested (like a nesting doll) five different projects with interruptions—I’d started something, only to be interrupted, only to have THAT interrupted by something else, and so on. By the time I’d finished setting my brain onto the new topic (all these were crucially important to the people asking me for them, and at one point the whole process included two interruptions to my follow-up on a single phone call!), made a note to keep my place, backtracked to something else, and then finally returned, the projects in question probably took twice as long as they needed to.

I looked brilliant to everyone but me. To me, I looked drained. By two in the afternoon, I’d given up on having more than twenty minutes for lunch (I probably got more like thirty-five, but in five or ten minute increments) and just started finishing things.

Granted, it was one of those days when the part of my job that answers to everyone else’s emergencies took over (thank goodness that doesn’t happen often, maybe twice a month, although one of those is always a week-long, deadline-ridden period) and usually it’s self-imposed multi-tasking.

Yes, I said self-imposed. You know the type—you have more than one long-term project and you want to make progress on all of them (or several of them) every day. The problem is that just because we quit actively working on something, we don’t necessarily quit thinking about it. So you’re writing that Inspirational novel, and the blood-n-gore thriller you’re doing under a different name keeps poking its pointy little head into the process. Or you’d like to get up and dive right into writing, but you’ve got to fix lunch, eat breakfast, shower, and post a blog entry and you haven’t decided what to do about any of it (except the shower).

Now what? I finally decided to stop multi-tasking whenever possible. If I can, I break a project into discrete units, which makes it easier to stop and move to something else. Instead of saying, for example, “I must work on web pages today,” (for work) I’ll decide how many I want done this week (say, five) and when I get that one done, that’s it. I’m happy, and I don’t have to think about web page content again until tomorrow.

Combining tasks whenever possible helps, too. Can you write all your blog posts for the week at one sitting (sometimes, yes)? Live on leftovers? Let go of something altogether?? (more on this next week)

If you can limit what you are presently focused on—your “WIP” list—you free up more energy to do it right. I’m not saying I have the answers, or even some good suggestions, but it’s working for me. What do you do to keep from tripping over your own “must do now” conflicts?

Midweek Creativity Block-buster

2010-01-27T06:56:00.000-05:00

Today’s block buster is a writing prompt I made up from a spark of an idea from a prompt I found on a website I can’t remember (see how this works?).

POV: 1st person. Genre: don’t care. Rules: well, there aren’t any. Suggestion: take my beginning and turn it into a paragraph or two. It can be the beginning of a story, the middle of a story, the end. If you feel like commenting, I’d love to see how it felt (especially if you tried an unusual starting point, like making it the end of a story). You can even share—post a comment, or email me at laradien@gmail.com.

I can’t have daffodils in the front yard anymore. It doesn’t feel right, that splash of color that defies winter by peeping through the snow.

OPB: Fever

2010-01-26T18:49:00.001-05:00

I basically was a lazy couch potato wannabe this weekend. Yeah, I wrote, edited, proofed, all that sort of thing, but I didn’t get around to cleaning my house until really late Sunday night.

Instead, I raced through the “Fever” books from Karen Marie Moning. Hadn’t read her in years—for whatever reason, when it came out, Darkfever didn’t appeal to me, and by the time I got around to thinking the series actually looked kind of good (maybe I was having problems with the whole “doesn’t matter what they are, faeries are evil” thing), I couldn’t find anything but whatever the latest was, and I wasn’t starting in the middle. Finally, though, the first four were available at the library at the same time.

Parts were “eh, not so much” but overall, I really liked it, and frankly, by the time I finished the last page of Dreamfever I was seriously hooked, and…really? With that kind of cliffhanger you’re going to make us wait until December, 2010????????????????????????????????

It’s enough to drive a fan crazy.

If you read the Highlander books, you know Moning doesn’t write sex for the squeamish, so you’re forewarned on this one. Although she does ramp it up a bit in the Fever books. A few characters hop over from the Highlander books, although not in a terribly “what did I miss” sort of way, so it didn’t bother me much. It’s been so long since I read them, though, that if they’d needed any more explanation, it might have. By the time you get to Dreamfever, the most recent, we’re off in pure fantasy-land, but not in a bad way. Just in the sense that we go from alternate history to alternate present, something that seems to really only happen out of sight in most urban fantasy type books these days—you know, where the weird stuff is kept in the dark and humans, or at least ‘normal’ humans never know it’s happening, and the end-of-the-world stuff never hits the headlines.

Moning, as usual, punches up some very engaging characters, not the least of whom is Barrons—I hesitate to call him a hero, since I don’t know WHAT he is. The one thing I’m sure of is I have no clue what motivates him. He’s a mystery to everyone, not just Mac (the heroine). She, too, is on the gritty side—and I have to say I loved the way Moning took her from perky, pink, and plastic to tough…and left a healthy (maybe too healthy) dose of 20-something ego (only I can save the world) in there.

Can’t wait ‘til December.

Slow down, free up

2010-01-14T07:58:00.003-05:00

Last week, I posted about distractions. They are evil, right?

Well, yes and no. (This is not a confession, by the way, it's an observation.) Sometimes, they're a sign that you're working at over-the-top capacity and your brain needs some down time.

Too much on the to-do list=too much going on in your brain (what, you thought you wrote it down so you could forget about it?)=I-4 at rush hour. Or any other road you want to substitute. I saw this analogy on a website yesterday that I can't remember so will have to credit later--I'm late, because, oh, yeah, I have too much going on today to do anything at a leisurely pace.

I'm five minutes away from a traffic jam in my brain.

Less going on means more energy to go into the things that ARE going on.

More on this later--it's an interesting idea I want to explore over the next several weeks in conjunction with my pursuit of how we process creatively. Meanwhile, consider easing up on the accelorator, and see what happens. And see if that exit up there won't take you someplace interesting.

Midweek Creativity Block-buster

2010-01-13T06:37:00.002-05:00

Today's block-buster is a writing prompt. 200 words the bird's POV, 1st or 3rd person, any genre you like.

OPB: Lover Avenged

2010-01-12T06:58:00.000-05:00

One problem with a series book that comes after a long (too-long?) break is it can be hard to pick up the flow—as a reader, at least. No idea how JR Ward feels about it. Sometimes that problem can be solved by picking up the first several books again and re-reading them first. But I admit, although I have sort of this love-hate relationship with vampire stories (I’m really over them, but I think Ward tells a pretty good story), I’ve been so busy the past several months that while I was waiting for this one, I didn’t take the time to refresh my story-memory.

I probably should have. It’s taking me quite a bit to get back into the rhythm of the story—so it’s probably good that Ehlena is such an appealing character—several pages in I almost put the book down and then decided I wanted to see if she really could redeem Rehvenge. This isn’t the story I was hoping for, by the way—there were some really interesting (I thought) things happening at the end of the last book and I was really hoping Ward would pick up on them and move forward. I’ve not finished yet, but I will admit that right now, it’s the relationship developing between E and R that has me most intrigued, but also the glimpses into Xhex’s past. And I will confess to some curiosity as to whether R will be able to free himself from his blackmailer and just get over stuff. Ward has a knack for truly tragic heroes, and so it’s sometimes as much a struggle (for me) to see if they get to a place where I like them, not just whether they win against the bad guys.

R is pretty hard to root for, by the way, but E isn’t—hard to root for, that is. So I’m looking forward to seeing if their relationship plays out in a believable redemption—because I hope that’s where it’s headed!

The book of dreams

2010-01-11T16:45:00.000-05:00

Imagine there’s a book you really, really want to write. Would you do it?

Imagine you have no idea whether anyone but you wants to read this book. Would you do it?

Imagine that you know how much time goes into writing a book (a lot. Really a lot. More than you can imagine, even if you’ve done it.). Would you do it?

You can’t do everything—or at least I can’t. If you know the secret to it, please let me know.

So I’m trying to balance what I know sells (you know, the stuff I’ve already sold) with spending a huge chunk of time writing something that is pulling me like crazy, but may never sell a single copy.

Call it a labor of love, I guess. Because I’m going to keep with that balance. For now, I’m shelving the novel that’s already (mostly) written and take a crack at this one. But I have decided at least for now to keep writing the novellas as well. As the book progresses, I’m going to post sneak peeks—excerpts and what-have-you—and you can tell me what you think of it.

What's in a name, part II

2010-01-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

Name that heroine.

If heroes need strong names, what kind of names do heroines need?

I think we writers have a lot more flexibility when it comes to naming our heroines, although we don't seem to stray too far off the beaten path.

Still, because depending on subgenre, the heroine can have a personality anywhere from very sweet to very strong, a name that suggests whatever you want to suggest can be found.

Are there any pitfalls? Well, maybe. Some names, especially old-fashioned ones, will require a hyper-cool heroine to pull them off, sort of like in real life (in a way, we're more forgiving of our heroes' names in real life, but maybe that's because heroes in books are supposed to be more or less alpha, whereas in the real world, we don't object so strongly to beta or gamma males.). Ethel, for example. Very hard to make sexy (even sweetly so). Martha. Fairly common names—maybe names that are a little too "girl next door"?—are also harder to find in books. Cheryl. Lori—or even Laurie. Susan. Jennies become Jens. Annes probably become Annies, or maybe change spelling.

Any names you've seen a lot of in books that drive you crazy, or, conversely, that spark a desire to name your own children after said heroine?

Distractions

2010-01-07T07:38:00.000-05:00

I can't think when my feet are cold

It's freezing. Yeah, I know, you're up there in Massachusetts or something wondering what the hell I'm complaining about—I'm in Florida, where winter looks like this: high in the 50s, lasts maybe a week or so.

I don't care, my feet are cold and it's distracting.

What distracts you?

In meditation, you learn that for every minute on the cushion, there are a hundred possible distractions, all with one purpose: to disconnect you. It's amazing to me, sometimes, how we can have so much trouble focusing on something so good for us, whether that is meditating, eating right, exercising, or fulfilling our wildest dreams (I had to get this back to writing somehow.). Instead, we find other things to temporarily derail us: the phone to answer, socks (or, in my case, fuzzy mouse slippers) to find, even a word count to check for the fiftieth time this hour.

Here's today's advice: make a list. That's right, grab a piece of notepaper (or the grocery list pad off the fridge) and a pen, and put them on the desk next to you. First item on the list: cold feet. Second item: reading blogs. Phone to answer. Mail to check. Whatever is distracting you, write it down. No, don't write a list, just as the distractions arise, write them down. You can take care of them later (trust me, the Visa bill will still be there in an hour). You can read this blog later. You can check your word count after the scene is done. Distractions later. Write, now.

Midweek Blockbuster

2010-01-06T15:17:00.000-05:00

It's the first week of January, so where are you? On fire with the new ideas that seem to pop up out of nowhere with the flip of a calendar page? Or "recovering" from the holidays, and trying to figure out where you left off? Or still in your rhythm, and asking "what holidays?"

Or all of the above?

In this week's creativity block buster, I'm going to suggest that you do two things this week, if you do nothing else: first, write down some clear-cut goals for the year (tomorrow I'll be posting a column I wrote on 'breakthrough' goals, so feel free to wait for that). I'm not so much a fan of New Year's Resolutions as I am of the idea that we seem to be hard-wired to recognize turning points (such as the calendar changing years) as a time to create something new for our future. And goals of one sort or another are useful reminders—I keep mine posted on the wall above my desk along with some quotes that act as other reminders to me—for those days when we're flagging a little.

The second thing: do a jigsaw puzzle. Just one. A real one, if you have any and are so inclined. You don't even have to finish it, by the way. But an excellent way to refresh your brain is to give it something different to put together—we spend a good part of our time putting together people and places and plots...take a break, and go put together a picture. If you don't have any, or you don't have the space (or you have cats), go to www.jigzone.com and do one online.

Don't get sucked in, though—one puzzle, then back to those goals you just taped to the wall.

OPB is back: Altar of Eden

2010-01-05T06:53:00.001-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of James Rollins. To me, he kinda rolls all the best of Crichton, Brown, and Clancy together with just enough testosterone to keep it fun. I'm especially a fan of his Sigma Force books, so when Altar was announced, I wasn't sure whether I'd like it—my personal taste in literature, y'know. Give me hot military men following ancient myths over subterranean caverns any day. Of course, "hot military men" is my description of the Sigma Force guys, not Rollins'.

But I digress (those HMM will do that to me). Seriously, it is not possible for me to have enough misgivings to pass up a Rollins novel, except that I did skip his novelization of the Indiana Jones film—mostly because I just don't really do the whole movie-novel thing. But again, I digress. One of the things I like about Rollins' stories is the blending of science and myth. Also, I suspect Rollins looks at the world in much the same way I do—the perpetual question of "hmm, wonder what THAT is about? And what would happen if you did this?" And once again, in Altar, Rollins digs up a fascinating bit of science (in this case, fractals) and turns it into a motive for the bad guys to do their thing. One thing that makes Altar different from his other books, though—and I promise it won't be a spoiler—is the role he gives animals. I swear, I NEVER do this, but about halfway through the book, in a particularly tense bit, I flipped to the last pages to make sure they survived. I just had to know.

Rollins also gets brownie points from me in that there is almost always a touch of romance in his books, and he's one of the very rare male thriller writers I know who writes it well. Maybe because he doesn't get into details. I'm not slamming male thriller writers, by the way, but really, for the most part, that's not the type of emotion they're best at depicting. Just saying. Rollins won't be burning up the romantic suspense or romantic thriller charts anytime soon, but he doesn't leave you wondering why he bothered, either. And in Altar, the story is a lot more personal than in some of his other books—one of the ordeals the heroine goes through had me cringing not only because, well, I wouldn't want to be there, but you could just see her past catching up with her in the process.

If you're a fan of Rollins already, you've probably already got the book. If you've never read his stuff, and you like the type of story told by writers like Michael Crichton and Dan Brown (even if you don't like their writing styles), you need to go check this out.

Taking the Sabbath

2010-01-04T05:38:00.000-05:00

A trap I have often fallen into—a trap I think a lot of writers fall into—is working every day. Or thinking that I should be working every day. It's understandable—I have a day job, Monday through Friday, 8(ish) to 5(ish). Weekends are cluttered with domestic life. I write when I can. Evenings. Chunks of time on Saturday and Sunday. I squeeze errands in around word counts.

I burn out.

There's a fine line between accepting lack of creativity as though it's something we have no control over, and realizing we need to give ourselves permission to recharge. Important words: give ourselves permission. Too often we crash—before, during, and after the word count or the page count—and fall into a stupor in front of the television, someone else's novel, or (worst) doing anything at all while stewing over the fact that we should be writing.

Every so often, I take a weekend off. 'Every so often,' btw, translates to 'about once a year.' The only rule on these weekends is that except for anything that impacts actual living processes, if it 'has' to be done, it has to wait until Monday. It's like being on vacation, except I don't take vacations very often (too much work) and when I do, I usually take work with me.

After moving last month, I decided to do something new: take a Sabbath. Now, this isn't a new idea, but I've never thought I had the time to do it. The idea is simple: pick a day, any day that works for you (Sunday works for me, but I don't have anyone living with me, and I work a typical workweek) and just do ... nothing. Or do spiritual somethings. Recharge your batteries. Replenish the well. Read for pure pleasure, not to figure out how Author X does pacing. Do needlework. Hang out in a park. Go hangliding. The most important part (next to simply being away from anything that is work, no matter how much you love your work, for a full day) is that you give yourself permission to do this. Nothing to feel guilty about.

Know what? I get more done in the other six days than I did when I was trying to keep going on all seven.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T08:23:00.003-05:00

Here's wishing you a marvelous, magickal, amazing year...and me, too. Er, wishing myself that kind of year, not wishing you, me...or something.

So this is the year I plan to take up mountain-climbing. Of one sort or another. There are a lot of things I want to complete (and start) and this feels like the right year. There are a lot of reasons, a lot of things falling into place, but suffice it to say that my goals are ambitious.

Novels: I have three novels in various stages of writing--rewrites, rough draft, and plotted. My goal is to write 1500 words a day (ambitious, but do-able), five days a week, double that one day a week, on the primary work-in-progress. The books in question are Dreamwalk, Resurrection, and Shift.

Short stories: This is kind of an ongoing thing--I write them because they're fun. But last year, I kind of let it slip away from me. Got one--Emerald--sold (I've got edits to finish this weekend); the other is just kind of sitting there. Might need to be torn up and have something else done to it. So the question is, how do I feel about the short stories? Do I want to put the energy into them that they need, instead of focusing entirely on novels? I actually need to think this one through, so this goal may change in a month. For now, the goal is to write six new erotic short stories this year.

General career: really, I have to get off my ass here. I became president of my local RWA chapter this fall, adding one more layer to the professional side of the profession. Goals here are to just bite the bullet and start submitting novels--starting in February at the latest; develop and teach three online writing classes; teach four workshops on creativity (two are on the calendar already); join two more local RWA chapters (in addition to "mine"). Blog five days a week.

So those are mine--writing related, at least. All nice and public. I'm also acting as "goalkeeper" for my chapter--I instituted a goal challenge/offer at our December meeting, and next December will get everyone's reports on their accomplishments. There'll be rewards of some sort (in addition to the professional boost). For myself, I figure the accomplishments will bring their own rewards, but by then I might be also ready for a vacation someplace warm.

What about you? Any plans to start climbing mountains?

No excuses

2009-12-30T08:30:00.003-05:00

Okay, so it's been almost two months since my last post. No excuses, although I'd like to blame moving, work, and a variety of other things that have gotten in the way. Unfortunately, that really counts for only the one full day I was without internet service.

I'm not saying everything else didn't complicate it, but when you consider that I have an entire week's worth of posts already written, with a copy in my in-box at the day job...no excuses.

Which brings me to the point, since no one wants to read mea culpas for more than about two seconds (my life isn't nearly interesting enough or scandalous enough for that!). The point is: no excuses.

My big New Year's Resolution (please note the caps!) is to make this a "no excuses" year. I've committed myself to working harder than I've ever thought possible, because there's a lot I want to get done.

This "no excuses" thing really did start with the move. For the first time in a very long time, I have no responsibilities to anyone but myself, and I have enough room to not have to shuffle things around to find what I need at any given moment. I even have my yoga mat in a permanent spot. Remembering, of course, that permanence isn't exactly a tenet of yoga. But no one but myself to blame (or credit) for days missed writing, editing, posting, or otherwise moving things forward. I actually got a lot of living done this past year--a lot of stuff happening in my life that unexpectedly impacted other parts of my life--but as a result, my intentions to get a lot of writing done didn't quite play out. So on New Year's Day, I'm going to post my writing/career goals for the year, and then I'll post monthly where things stand. Public accountability and all that. In-between posts are going to focus on the creative process, with five posts a week planned (I plan to take Sundays off altogether, something I'll discuss in a later post.). Hopefully, that will spark some new creativity in me, and some in you.

Happy New Year!

Truth is weaker than fiction

2009-11-09T07:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a story hits the news that I've already considered as far too clichéd to make a decent plot—don't you hate when that happens?

For example, one headline a few weeks ago talked about Anna Nicole Smith being investigated for planning to murder her husband. Really? Blonde-bombshell-suspected-gold-digger suspected of doing in her old-enough-to-be-her-grandfather-billionaire husband? Who makes this up?

The harder I work, the behinder I get

2009-11-08T09:33:00.002-05:00

To-do:

Write

Pack

Edit

Not necessarily in that order, but those are this week's goals. My editor is in the midst of her turn at editing Emerald--keeping fingers crossed there won't be many edits. I'm getting ready to do another stint of sort-n-pack (one box in the trunk for Goodwill already today) then I swear, if I don't get anything else done today, I WILL get that last scene written for Heat Index. It's killing me, because the story needs a scene at the point I'm struggling with, and I recognize that, but I had a nice bout of frustration going for both the hero/heroine and I kind of hate to interrupt that to let them have actual, well, you know. Sex. The stuff the story's pretty much based on. Ah, the travails of the (erotic romance) writer...

It's been another couple weeks of crazy-at-work, plus some other things I took on, which has made writing much a challenge--I've added some words to Dreamwalk, but I really want to get Heat Index knocked out and queried, then take a couple of weeks to focus only on Dreamwalk instead of thinking about two stories at once. Something Linnea Sinclair said in her presentation yesterday gave me what I think is the final prod to make that story rock, so I'm going to apply it this week. New goal for Dreamwalk: out the door via queries by end of December.

OPB: Tribes

2009-10-20T07:29:00.002-04:00

I just finished reading Seth Godin's book Tribes. It's a short book--maybe 150 pages, but in that 4x6 format. And it's packed with examples of leaders creating change by doing what they're passionate about, as well as people who became accidental leaders by looking at something they'd changed and realizing the potential (the microwave oven, for example, was one of those happy accidents).

If you have any inkling of desire to make a difference, read this book. I admit, I'm a fan of Godin's in general, but even taking that into account...I think the best way to sum it up is this: take chances on the things you care about. Tell the story you want to tell, but tell it for the benefit of your "tribe" (the people who care about what you care about) and your cause. Not to be preaching, but to be doing.

Name that hero...

2009-10-15T07:14:00.002-04:00

"A Sheldon can do your income taxes, if you need a root canal, Sheldon's your man... but humpin' and pumpin' is not Sheldon's strong suit. It's the name." (From "When Harry Met Sally")

What's in a name? Yeah, this one gets discussed a lot. But you've no idea—unless you're writing and then you have EVERY idea—how hard it can be to come up with hero (and heroine, but we're sticking with heroes today) names that a) don't repeat, b) don't remind you of anyone you know, and c) sound, well, heroic.

Of course, it matters what type of novel you're writing. Historicals, for example, or period novels generally reflect names that either were popular at the time, or that the author thinks sounds like it could have been popular. Sometimes this gets a little confused, though. For example, it would appear that "Alfred" was a reasonably popular name during the early 19th century, as was "William," and yet, when did you last read a Regency starring a hero by either name? "Charles," on the other hand, is more or less acceptable. Less so in contemporaries, although it's a perfectly nice name. Kind of stodgy, perhaps. The kind of name where you have to know the owner to get past the idea that Charles can run a company with ruthless efficiency, but maybe isn't so much in the bedroom (my apologies, of course, to anyone named Charles who sees this. I'm not thinking of you, really.) The hero of Emerald Ecstasy is a Charlie--friendly, accessible, kind of boy-next-door-sexy. Devon and Rafe (in my first two) are cops--Rafe, of course, isn't a uniformed cop, he's an international bounty hunter who specializes in catching poachers. Rafe sounds kind of sexy-dangerous (unlike Ralph, which I believe is the English equivalent). The hero of Hungarian Masquerade is Nick--not so much on the bad-boy side of things.

Other names you don't see so much: Bill, Bob (although Rob is acceptable), Ron, Don, Howard, George or even David. Karen Rose introduced David Hunter in her first novel, and the poor guy is just now getting his own book. I think it's because these are all "nice guy" names, and don't lend themselves well to alpha hero status. For that, you need an Adam, a Dane, an Ethan, a last name masquerading as a first name....

I'm not an expert on names, by any means, so I'm only guessing. But it does make me wonder...what IS in a name?

Midweek Creativity Block-buster

2009-10-14T19:22:00.000-04:00

Put on a piece of classical music. Yes, classical. If you don't have any, there are a gazillion radio stations online—go find one now.

Back? Okay. You'll have to close your eyes for the next part. Close your eyes and listen for at least five minutes—longer if possible. Allow images—a story—to come into your mind from the music. Use these images to serve as the basis for three pages of free-association writing.

Okay, you can open your eyes now.

OPB: No Fear of the Storm (more on the apocalypse)

2009-10-13T07:26:00.002-04:00

Sorry, having too much fun with the research these days. Which brings me to today's "review".

This has NOTHING to do with writing. It's one of the books I'm reading for my research on end-times beliefs. And I'm not recommending it—I can't. Except if you want to read it for the same reason I am—to try to figure out what end-times enthusiasts use for evidence and framework for their beliefs.

The author is Tim LaHaye, who made a name for himself with novels about the Christian "rapture" and what happens after. This book is a non-fiction handbook for the same—sort of. It's kind of a feel-good manifesto that smugly declares that when the cosmic shit hits the universal fan, all the "real" Christians will be safely in heaven, having ascended in the rapture. Now, I haven't read his novels. I don't particularly want to. Frankly, I'm not all that crazy about this one. But it's offering me a good look at the thoughts going through the heads of people who believe this. So in addition to being useful for research, it's kind of fascinating in a morbid sort of way. Kind of like watching a bizarre accident where you have that mingled sense of Holy Cow and WTF?

First, it seems to rely on a literal interpretation of the Christian Bible, which is something I have a problem with for many reasons, but that's not the point. I'm not arguing theology here. But it does make me want to ask if we can interpret ALL the Bible literally, and so what was that deal with Cain and Abel? Then, from the back of the book "Christians today have more evidence that Christ could come in our lifetime than in any generation that has come before." ("Could" is a wonderful word, isn't it?) Evidence based on what? Well, based on the literal interpretation of the books of Daniel and Revelations, apparently, except that you can't actually do a literal interpretation of the book of Revelations, because you'd have to come to the conclusion that John was off his rocker or in need of medication. Or that there are some really freaking weird things about to happen.

But people DO believe this. I'm not knocking that, per se—I believe plenty of things other people think are nuts. But I'm fascinated by how they seem to take this belief and turn it into a morbid fascination of their own with death and devastation. At the same time, they claim their own interpretation of the prophecies is the correct one (I know, what prophet wouldn't?) but don't recognize that it's interpretation. That is....not necessarily true. Preacher Joe is becoming more paranoid by the day.

Emerald Ecstasy cover!

2009-10-12T06:26:00.002-04:00

Yippee! Emerald Ecstasy has a cover. And I'm pleased as can be that the castle is the right kind. Right behind the top loop of the "E" is the master bedroom where heroine Tansy Robertson...well, you'll just have to wait and read it. Let's just say she seriously makes up for the fact that Irish castles tend toward the cold and drafty when it's the end of October and no one but a ghost lives there.

And the cute, half-naked guy at the bottom of the cover? That's our hero, a brawny Irish lad with the name of Charlie McCullough. The castle might be Tansy's now, but the ghost is his. Well, not his in the sense that it's his, but it is his great-great-great-something or other grandfather, wandering around waiting for someone to talk to him. Then there's the little matter of a treasure.

Haunted castle, buried treasure, hot guy in kilt...really, what more could a woman ask for?

No release date yet.

The to-do list - October 11, 2009

2009-10-11T11:40:00.002-04:00

Yay! I lined up almost all of the judges for next year's Touch of Magic contest. One of the judges I contacted is out of the office, so it'll be another week before I hear back from her. Just one category to cover, now.

This week had a creative onslaught for me. I got some writing and editing done, despite the week being busy, and also some interesting coincidences happen that moved one project to the front burner (or maybe at least onto the stove).

So this week is largely going to be an "in progress" week as I catch up on some stuff for CFRW, continue writing and editing, finish up the two contests that I'm still judging and continue researching The Prophet.

Research: finding a publisher or agent

2009-10-10T09:01:00.003-04:00

Wow. I was really in a hurry yesterday morning, wasn't I? Spending a couple of days at the Southern Women's Show--yesterday gave a presentation with Michelle Young called "I wrote a book--now what?" We walked through some information on types of publishers (large, small, e-pub, self-pub) and the pros and cons of each, how to find the right publisher for your book, and the submissions process, which I lovingly titled: do your homework!

Here's my two-cents worth on the subject, straight from yesterday's discussion (see, you didn't even have to be there to get my opinion):

Submitting: Publishers/editors

Do your homework! Do they even publish/represent your genre?

Check the spines of books in the same genre, especially of authors you like, to see who's publishing them.
Go to the websites of publishers you are familiar with and see what they publish.
Google the name of your genre—for example, "medical romance"--you may find small publishers, or even large publisher you just didn't think of, who are interested in what you're writing.
Don't forget electronic or e-pubs; for certain genres—especially erotica and sci/fi/fantasy—the electronic market is growing rapidly. However, don't look at e-publishers as a shortcut to publication. Yes, the slush pile might be shorter, but e-publishers building their reputations are just as picky!

Agents: Do you need an agent?

At some point—yes. Agents are trained and practiced in reading contracts, in talking to publishers and editors—that 15% commission pays for a lot of hard work. A good agent can get you in doors you didn't know existed, AND they'll help you make sure there's nothing in your contract you can't live with.
Sometimes you need one to even talk to the publisher you're interested in.
Finding an agent can be tricky—they're a lot harder to research than publisher are, mostly because you've probably never heard of any of them. See if there are "thank yous" in the front of the books of your favorite authors. Check their websites for their agent information. Join a professional association and use their databases.

Your next step in either case--once you've found the agents/editors/publishers you feel are a good fit to your writing--is to find their submissions guidelines. Sometimes those are buried—and I do mean buried—on their websites (for publishers, at least). But that's the word/phrase you're looking for: submissions guidelines. Those will tell you length—in commercial fiction, word count is unbelievably important; line specifics like—in romance, for example—heat levels which is romance-writer-speak for sex, or the need for alpha heroes or specific settings. They will also tell you whether the publisher takes unagented submissions, who the editors are for specific lines, and how to submit. Do they want a synopsis? How long? Do they take electronic queries?
Follow them!!! (the rules, that is) Well, you don't have to, but you're really risking ticking someone off if you don't, and it's a small, small world.

Later, (next 'research' Saturday, perhaps) my thoughts on synopses and query letters, as well as a little submission (although not submissive) etiquette. Today, I'm taking a day off....

OPB: Make Her Pay

2009-10-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Seriously, this might be the hottest Bullet Catcher ever written. Yes, I've probably said that before, but this time I really mean it.

There's buried treasure (okay, so it's buried under lots of water), centuries-old mystery, a deliciously bad-boy hero, and a heroine who gives him a run for his money—literally.

The sexual tension is high enough to qualify for the mile-high club on its own. The 'holy s**t' tension is way up there, too. Rocki managed to hit two of my personal fear scenarios in one book—yay for the book, not so yay for me! Lizzie is a great heroine, and Con...well, if I'd been Lizzie, I'd have been wavering between wanting to smack him and wanting to jump him at every opportunity. Did I mention hot?

I admit I'm really looking forward to the new series, but even though I'll miss the Bullet Catchers, this was a great way to go out.

Midweek Creativity Block-buster

2009-10-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

Make a list. That's right, a list. Pick a topic, any topic. Names for heroes (more on this later), names for heroines. The color green. Kinds of trees...anything you like. Brainstorm as many words as you possibly can for this list. Next time you're writing something that requires one of these words, take the last one and use it.

OPB: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

2009-10-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

An old favorite writing resource from my shelf. Authors Renni Browne and Dave King show you what to look for in your manuscripts, skipping grammar and spelling for the much tougher problems of show/tell (familiar to most writers!), proportion (giving the right weight to the elements of your story), inner dialogue (tough one), and (again familiar) dialogue mechanics. Examples, exercises, comparisons...it's an excellent tool, whether you're a new writer or have multiple manuscripts under your bed waiting to see the light of day.

The to-do list - October 4, 2009

2009-10-04T08:39:00.002-04:00

Bigger goals stay the same, of course, with some modification--this week is the Southern Women's Show, and it will be taking my time Thursday - Sunday. Friday and Saturday mornings at 10:30 I'll be tag-teaming with Michelle Young to give a presentation titled "I've written a book--now what?" If I get any work done in the downtimes, it will probably be editing, since the only portable writing instrument I own is paper and pen.

I'm in the middle of two contest deadlines, so will get at least one of those done and back to the coordinator this week. I'm going to try to get the entries for one done today, in fact.

I'm almost done with the self-edits for Heat Index. One big scene to write and a little tweaking of the setup for the end of it, then it's off to the query wars. Hopefully that will be done today as well.

Getting commitments from final-round judges for Touch of Magic continues. Next step, revising score sheets. Hope to have that underway by this time next week (hopefully will have all judges by the end of the week--emails for most of them are going out between today and Tuesday).

I'm researching the lore of Indian burial mounds and Celtic burial mounds as power spots. Also researching Armageddon/millenialists (as noted in yesterday's post).

That's probably enough for a week that's half-shot already.

Research: end of times

2009-10-03T17:07:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, research leads me down some interesting paths. I admit, I'm one of "those" writers—the ones who say they don't write historicals because of the research. I write contemporary, which lets me research other things.

Like Armageddon theories. I'm not going to offer an opinion, although it's probably safe to say that no one subscribing to these theories is reading this blog, unless they're looking for the sex (sorry). Right now, I'm working through several books (found at the library) on a variety of topics that may or may not be related to the idea that Armageddon is just around the corner, but they're all going into the creation of my newest criminal mastermind.

I like the odder shows on the History Channel—let's blame them. Myths, legends, prophecies. Yum. The Antichrist...yum. The end of the world? If I can put a paranormal twist to the plot (besides the ever-present demons and vampires)...I'm there. So the bad guy—let's call him Preacher Joe, since that isn't his name—subscribes to this idea that the end of the world is right around the corner—what better time to bend others to his will, right? And I'm trying to understand the mindset of "this way or no way," and—remembering this is all fiction, so if YOU believe part, but not all, please don't come after me with a shotgun; I KNOW not everyone who believes part of it believes all of it!—so among topics, I'm reading up on dominion theology, anti-"new age in school" (did you know that's why Johnny can't read?), why the return of Jews to Jerusalem signals the rise of the Antichrist, and, oh, the Book of Revelations, which may be the scariest book in the Christian Bible (don't forget I was raised on this one!). If I don't end up in a mental ward from the trauma, Preacher Joe is going to be one scary sonofabitch.

Quirky Characters

2009-10-02T06:40:00.000-04:00

Who's the most memorable character you know? Not necessarily in a book, but that's fine, too.

Now, quickly, answer this: why?

The most memorable real-life character I know must remain nameless because I don't want to get sued over a difference of opinion. So let's just say he's memorable because he makes his living (as best I know) convincing other people of his right-ness. That's broad enough, isn't it? Of course, unlike most doctors, lawyers, marketing gurus, and bloggers, he uses, um, shall we say "less than socially acceptable" skills to do this? (Fine. As far as I can tell, based on research and acquaintance, he's a con man.) Don't really know a lot of those, which makes him stand out. Also, the absolute outrageousness of his claims is pretty memorable. He is remarkable because he is larger than life (his stories and claims are great, and if I used them in a book, I'd have to be writing comedy and he'd have to be obviously a con man—and unsuccessful—because I promise you, if I tried writing as fiction what he tries to pass off as truth, I'd never get past my critique partner, never mind an editor.).

To make your characters stand out—to keep your readers coming back for more—give your characters memorable traits. The author who can't live without coffee (that one's based in truth!); the car salesman who cannot tell a lie; the anthropologist whose greatest dream is to excavate in an unknown valley in Egypt (it's okay if you want to set this one in the 18th or 19th century). The child whose puppy-dog eyes means her alpha-hero father can't say no. The heroine whose biggest obstacle is that she's afraid of heights. Bring the characters to life with quirks, with personality traits and challenges that affect how the story turns out.

OPB: Dust and Shadow

2009-10-01T06:19:00.002-04:00

Yay, it's October! By the end of the month, I predict, it will be all about me, so it seems appropriate that we're starting the month with an OPB day.

Just for something different, I grabbed Dust and Shadow, by Lyndsay Faye. Dust and Shadow is a telling of the Jack the Ripper killings through the words of Holmes' sidekick, Dr. Watson. You got it: Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper in the same book. Kind of made me wonder why no one ever did this before. Then I realized maybe they had, and I just never saw it. Regardless, if you like Sherlock Holmes, you'll like this book. All gritty and gory and no punches pulled. Reference to Holmes' drug use, as well as decidedly non-romantic images of late 19th century London – not a book likely to be made into an after-school special on the History Channel (although it might be fun to watch). Done very much in the traditional style--Doyle might be apppalled that Holmes' involvement in the Ripper murders has come to light, but he'd probably approve of the job Faye does in the telling of it.

Creative block-buster

2009-09-30T07:17:00.000-04:00

Want to give your creativity a boost? Learn a new skill. You'll start thinking about things you don't usually think about, and in ways you don't usually think. Plus, the new skill itself may give you a new creative outlet, or give you fodder for something you're already doing.

OPB: When Things Fall Apart

2009-09-29T07:36:00.000-04:00

Diving off the writing path because I haven't had time to read much non-fiction lately. In my non-writing life, I read a lot of inspirational books, partly because the reminders from brilliant minds and loving people like Pema Chodron, Jack Canfield, Marc Allen, and Jack Kornfield, to name just a few, remind me there really is more to life than the writing gig, despite my favorite tag line (writing is life, everything else is research).

One book I go back to time and again is Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart. Top five most important things list would have to include this. In fact, it's so important, I don't know that I've ever finished it—I can sit and read the first three chapters over and over until things sort themselves out. I rarely tell people they HAVE to read something—really, the whole "have to" thing is up to you—but this book is almost an exception. When things are at their craziest, I love being able to reach for a reminder that impermanence is the nature of life, that when the sand is being pulled out from under me, it's ultimately better if I (world-class control-freak) just let go and see what happens next (or maybe I'm a world-class worrier – reality is almost never as bad as I imagined it). You don't even have to read the whole book to get the message.

Book signing, new books, 'n' stuff...

2009-09-28T07:30:00.001-04:00

Saturday was "Customer Appreciation Day" at B & L Books[link] in Altamonte Springs. I walked out with two new books (one more than I'd planned), a bookmark that has a pocket for reading glasses ('cause I needed that reminder, right? Still, it's a cool bookmark.), and a dose of fandom. I skipped the cookies, though, because I'm being really determined right now...

If I could've, I'd have picked up a dozen books, easily, because several of my favorite people in author-world were there: Roxanne St. Claire (I did pick up her latest—Make Her Pay is being released tomorrow and this latest Bullet Catcher promises to be really good—and it may be the last, since the divine Miss R is working on a new series.); Wendi Darlin, another Scarlet author who I really like because she mixes smoking hot sex with love stories that'll make you cry; Julie Leto (I picked up her latest, too, giving me a sneak-peek at the novella duo she did with Leslie Kelly.); Elissa Wildes, whose paranormals are oh, so tempting; as well as Loretta Rogers (westerns), Susan Kearney (I was out of money, but I almost bought Lucan anyway—it's on my "pick up soon" list), and Kathy Carmichael (another "pick up soon" title—Hot Flash...but not THAT kind!). Go check 'em all out. Send some appreciation back.

The to-list September 27, 2009

2009-09-27T09:40:00.003-04:00

Hey, I actually did some catching-up this week, in between semi-personal crises and what have you. It's always good when the day job is kicking my butt, as a matter of good-to-be-employed principle, but it does put a cramp in my writing style when I work through half my lunch hour (I used to get lots of writing done then). That's okay--stories are being told, even if it's a bit slower than anticipated.

This week's ongoing goals are the same--writing 2,000 words a day (I'm averaging far fewer right now, but I keep pushing), editing several pages (doing better with that--I'm really pushing on the revisions for Heat Index, so I've put that ahead of writing on the daily to-do list, but it should be done this week). Blogging, tweeting (both being done more consistently from Conscious Sanity), communicating in general....

Specifics for this week:
Finish the revisions for Heat Index so I can query it.
Picking an excerpt from Emerald Ecstasy for promotional use.
A bunch of stuff that needs to be done in my role as pres of CFRW will take up some time--but that's okay, too.

OPB: Apocalypse Wow....

2009-09-24T20:44:00.002-04:00

I've been squeezing in reading where I can over the past few weeks--a far cry from the days when I'd plow through a novel in a day or so. Those, of course, were the days when I wasn't writing one.

I picked up Lori Handeland's Any Given Doomsday for a break from, you know, the stress of the everyday. I liked it even more than I liked her other books (Blue Moon, etc). Sex and death and psychic stuff, you know--and I love it when the vampires are the bad guys.

Emerald Ecstasy update

2009-09-23T20:55:00.001-04:00

I have a blurb....

Tansy Robertson is in Ireland hunting ghosts—and a fortune—in a haunted castle when her childhood crush Charlie McCullough strides into the foyer, looking sexy and dangerous as ever in a kilt. Her worries of how to keep warm in a drafty castle are cast aside as he tutors her in more than Irish folklore. But when time runs out and an ocean threatens to separate them once again, can the memories of Emerald Ecstasy be enough?

Not that I'm biased, or anything, but I can't wait until this story comes out--it's fun, it's different, it's sexy...what more could anyone want?

When too much isn't enough

2009-09-21T20:24:00.002-04:00

A writing colleague took time out from her very busy schedule (husband, two kids, heavy deadlines) to critique Heat Index, my latest short story. Bless her.

She had some good things to say--things she liked, things she thought I could move around for better effect.

And there were a couple of places where I left too much to the imagination.

Now, Heat Index is an erotic romance short story, so you'd be justified in thinking "Huh? Too much to the imagination?"

What she thought was that I was short-changing the story by trying to keep it within a certain word count and that I just needed to tell the story. If it turned out I really can't write to the shorter count, so be it. Note: this would cut out the possibility of selling to Harlequin Spice Briefs, which I'd really like to do, but I may just have to suck it up and deal with it. Because it wasn't so much the sex scenes--although she did suggest one be written out instead of intimated. (I did that today, and I'm rather pleased with it, so thanks, KyAnn.) But oddly enough, at least to me, was her insistence that I'd left the background plot (um, this would be the real story behind all the sex and romance...in my books, it tends to involve guns and bad guys and so I really, really, try to keep them out of the picture) behind at a point where she really wanted to see what happened next. Although of course she had suggestions for how sex--or at least sexual tension--could be built into it.

What the story ... er, what the readers want, the readers get.

The to-do list - September 20, 2009

2009-09-20T13:30:00.003-04:00

I accidentally took a week off from blogging. Not entirely, at least not for the whole week (Conscious Sanity stayed updated until Friday/Saturday), but mostly.

Did I mention the day job has been kicking my butt? Wow. Not in a bad way, but definitely in a too-tired-to-think-of-something-clever (or even coherent) way.

However...I finished this round of edits for Emerald Ecstasy, and got the blurb written. Did some critiquing (Orlando writers' group meetup last week) and reviewed a friend's manuscript. Found time to be really creeped out by a commercial for an insurance company that shall remain nameless (because I know they're doing a search on Technorati for their company name, and I don't plan on helping) ... and then realizing I know just enough about the blogging world to scare myself.

Set up a Twitter account--actually, two. They're both private/not searchable right now because while I wanted to grab the names, I haven't had time to tweet. Truthfully, I may never have time to tweet because I don't own a "smart" device, and so can't use it away from the computer anyway. But on the off chance...yes, there's an @laradien Twitter account.

Started contest judging--judging paranormal entries and so far...not bad. It's always fun to read an entry I'd like to see on a bookstore shelf. And even the ones I'm not crazy about are good for me--kind of a cross between feeling like I'm being part of the writing community, giving back, and pure selfishness in getting ideas, reading as a judge/reader something and not liking it...and realize I do it.

Busy week.

So will be this, but I should at least be home most evenings, so should get more done.

Ongoing goals:
Writing 2,000 words a day on my fiction projects: 1,500 new words each day for Dreamwalk, 500 new words each day on one of my erotic novellas. Possibly Tidal, but since it's still in the "dusting off" stage, not sure about that.
Daily blog posts
Adding to my agents/publishers list
Critique session

Other:
Creative updates to this blog
Self-edits to Heat Index
Some tightening/edits to Dreamwalk, where the story has drifted away from what I want to write.
Tweaking blog schedules
Write a broad plot outline (the "W" list: who, what, where, why, when) to refine Resurrection
Plot three new chapters in Dreamwalk past what I write this week.
Judge contest entries

The to-do list - September 13, 2009

2009-09-13T19:19:00.001-04:00

Gulp.

Look at last week's list and repeat as necessary.

My life story, as seen on a shampoo bottle.

Random

2009-09-12T20:52:00.002-04:00

It's been a crazy-busy week, and today was a crazy-busy day, and I can't even think what to write but I've been at least keeping up, so...

Meanwhile, Practical Magic--one of my top 5 favorite movies--is on, and I'm thinking (not for the first time) about the difference between movies and books. I love this movie, and I loved the book, and the two have only the most basic points in common. I actually prefer the movie, although I really like Alice Hoffman's work. Maybe when I read it I wasn't in the mood for the kind of dark it evokes.

I popped in at the TARA meeting. The two featured presenters were great--Mary Lou Keller on the senses (more than the usual 5) and Frank Ahearn on disappearing. Lots of creative sparks flying and oh, my god...the stories.

Alpha heroes, nice guys, and real men

2009-09-11T19:24:00.002-04:00

I saw a complaint (I suppose it was a complaint) from a guy the other day who called himself a nice guy, and commented that the women he dates sometimes tell him he's "too nice."

I've heard this before--that guy is too nice...for what?

As writers in the modern romance market (I won't pretend to know what writers a century or two ago were thinking), we are pretty focused on alpha males (the better to stand up to our feisty, intelligent, often opinionated and gun-toting heroines, I suppose). So does that mean we aren't focused on nice guys?

I don't think so. In fact, I think the "too nice" guys IRL have other issues. Because, really, what is "too nice"? And seriously, if the woman you're with, men, is telling you you're too nice for her--that she'd rather date a guy who treats her like dirt (as though that's his only recommendation) do you think maybe she's got issues, too?

There's more going on here. When we dig into the alpha hero in romance novels (and no, I'm not saying that alpha males are the only way to go, I'm talking about character qualities any man could have), what we find are guys who are strong, intelligent, focused on honor, protective of those who are close to him...and oddly enough, they're often very nice. Except to bad guys.

I don't think "nice" is the problem. Could just be the woman's confused, or maybe you--the man--are lacking something else...perhaps a backbone? (sorry, I like my men to have theirs intact) But don't give up on the nice. Please.

Creative Sparks

2009-09-10T09:19:00.001-04:00

Occasionally, writing from a prompt can spark your creativity in your own work. Kind of like letting someone else do the hard work (coming up with a topic) and all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

I know, it's not really that easy, but it's not that hard, either.

There's a writing prompt book I like called The Book of Matches. I don't have my copy in front of me, but here's a (possibly paraphrased) prompt from that book:

Imagine a couple waking up one morning and going into their living room to find that all the furniture has been piled in the middle of the floor.

Write about it.

Romantic Suspense

2009-09-09T07:20:00.001-04:00

Okay, a little off the originally planned topic today (I was going to talk about characterization. Fortunately, it will wait.). I was on the treadmill, climbing a hill much steeper than anything I'd dare attempt IRL, listening to the Puppini Sisters cover Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, when it hit me.

Gothics are the original romantic suspense.

OPB: The Breakout Novel Workbook

2009-09-08T21:29:00.002-04:00

I hope/trust that if I write enough I'll become better than good. I'll admit to good. I want to be great.

So occasionally--possibly not often enough, but occasionally--I pick up a craft book and read it/work my way through. I read "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass some years ago, and last year picked up the Workbook.

It is kicking my butt. I may never be great, but it won't be from lack of trying. Whatever you think of Maass' techniques or points--that is, whether you agree with what he says makes a "breakout" novel (I happen to think he's pretty on target, but that's just one writer's opinion), the exercises in the Workbook will make you think hard about your characters and what they're doing, why they're doing it, and what ought to happen next.

Next stop: The Fire in Fiction -- I think I'll buy it for myself for my birthday...kicking up my writing another notch would be a pretty good gift.

Plot points: cliches

2009-09-07T09:01:00.002-04:00

One of the most difficult points I've judged on recently was this: is the plot cliched?

Humans have been telling and writing stories for thousands of years. Of COURSE the plot has been done. Or at least, the core story has. We've had murder mysteries since the first cave man came home to find another man had dragged his wife off by her hair. She probably painted him a 'dear John' note on the cave wall, too. Conspiracies have abounded throughout history. And somewhere, I'm sure, an enterprisingly innocent young woman took one look at a wizard and thought anyone who could turn lead into gold probably knew a few tricks for the bedroom as well.

So how do you make a story fresh? Is it solely dependent on interesting characters?

I think it really depends on a couple of things: a willingness to combine elements most people wouldn't think of, and a really deep motivation (dark, quirky, bizarre) for at least one of the characters. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy discovers girl has serious issues due to being raised in a circus caravan and being required to walk a highwire act at the age of three. Girl, it turns out, turns to mush at the sight of a white picket fence and can be seduced by the appearance of pink roses with her morning coffee. If boy is also an IT genius who likes to meet women on dating sites and set up IRL meets at the local coffee shop, where he will take them home and kill them, boy may be surprised to find that girl also--by virtue of her background--is able to slip out of the knots he so carefully tied and garrotte him with one of his own ties.

Bet you didn't see that one coming.

The to-do list - September 6, 2009

2009-09-06T12:10:00.001-04:00

I did lots of writing this week. Unfortunately(?) most of it was for my day job. Maybe I should be more specific about that "2,000 words a day" goal....

I got edits back last night from my editor (for Emerald) so this week's plans include finishing those. They weren't bad, though, so I hope to finish them by tomorrow. Gotta love having an extra day in the weekend.

So because it wasn't quieter at work, and I spent my evenings doing even more work related research and writing, this week's to-do list is pretty much more of the same—except there's no writing group meeting, so there's one evening free. Last week's meeting was productive, though—so some of last week's writing time was devoted to knocking out some needed edits in Dreamwalk. I added some new words, but not nearly enough.

Continuing (things that will never end, not really) "to-do"s include:

Writing 2,000 words a day on my fiction projects: 1,500 new words each day for Dreamwalk, 500 new words each day on one of my erotic novellas. Possibly Tidal, but since it's still in the "dusting off" stage, not sure about that.
Daily blog posts
Adding to my agents/publishers list
Critique session

Other:

Creative updates to the blogs
Edits to Emerald Ecstasy
Self-edits to Heat Index
Tweaking blog schedules
Write a broad plot outline (the "W" list: who, what, where, why, when) to refine Resurrection
Plot three new chapters in Dreamwalk beyond what I write this week
Judge contest entries (there are a couple coming up I've volunteered for)
Research changes for the Touch of Magic contest: we're making some changes that will make this (in my humble opinion) one of the best contests in terms of feedback...but more on that later.

Heroes and Villains and Werewolves, oh MY!

2009-09-05T16:11:00.002-04:00

Someone asked the question today at our RWA chapter meeting: what are the subgenres in romance?

Oh, my, indeed.

Took me about 30 seconds of answering the question to realize I don't really know the answer. Because it kind of keeps changing.

Okay, so that's just one writer's opinion, and certainly there are fairly broad categories we can refer to: Inspirational, Sweet, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, Erotic, Paranormal, Historical, Western, Western Historical, Paranormal Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Historical...you see where this is going, right?

When you tell your story, when you find the framework the core story fits into, it's not necessarily one genre or another--you may be jumping genres or creating your own. It's good to know where to start, though.

OPB: I Can See You

2009-09-04T08:50:00.002-04:00

I am a big fan of Karen Rose. In fact, I've about stopped trying to decide which of her books is my favorite and just wish I could write like that.

I Can See You, her latest, is one of those very scary it-could-really-happen-because-people-are-like-that books. To keep it short: the villain (with her books, I almost always think of the villain first) is preying on people through an online game in which he basically seduces them into wanting to meet him IRL (in real life) so badly, they forget everything their mothers ever told them about taking candy from strangers.

The heroine, familiar to fans from earlier books, is Eve Wilson, a psychology student who is studying the role of online games in helping socially inept people learn social skills. She goes into the game to keep an eye on the study participants, and, well, the rest would be giving the story away.

Read it with the lights on, and the computer off....

Picture this

2009-09-03T08:26:00.002-04:00

Saturday, I'm facilitating a "creative block-buster" workshop with my local RWA chapter. So I've been spending a fair amount of time researching new ways to spark creative thought, and I've been thinking about methods I use, and overall, it's been really useful--to me, at least. Always good when you go into a workshop feeling like you got something out of it :)

I've also become rather enamored of trying things I "know" don't work for me. Because, well, they might. For example, I'm terrible at looking for pictures for inspiration. I have friends who have buckets full of them--or at least computer files full of them--who can whip them out without thinking for the WIP.

I've decided to give it a try.

Mostly, the pictures live in my head--not a bad place, virtually unlimited storage, no copyright issues. But I'm going to find/print some pictures that remind me of some of the important scenes, and see if they help spark any creative bridges for getting there.

OPB: The Outliers

2009-09-02T08:22:00.002-04:00

Other Peoples' Books

I'm still reading the Katherine Carr book, but I somehow got sidetracked into reading Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. In Outliers, Gladwell takes a look at those "magical" success stories, and what lies beneath.

Fascinating. Especially the 10,000 hour rule. He posits that 10,000 hours is about the amount of time it takes to really become a breakthrough in your profession--although there are certainly other factors; I just wanted to focus on this one for a minute--and points to Bill Gates (hours spent programming as a teenager), the Beatles (a stint playing in Hamburg, 7 days a week, I-don't-remember-how-many-hours-a-day), and several other examples.

Keep reading his book and you get a very clear picture: a lot depends on your family and social setting (timing makes a difference), and a LOT depends on simply busting your ass and taking your talent and making it work.

Or, to quote Stephen King: talent is cheaper than table salt. This difference between the talented person and the successful one is a lot of hard work.

Block buster

2009-09-01T09:38:00.002-04:00

Although I firmly believe the best way to get through a creative "dry spell" is to write through it (as much as that may hurt), another way to juice your creativity is to change perspective.

No, I don't mean POV--although that could work (and I'm blogging on that topic: 1st v 3rd, over at Terry's Place today). More like Alice in Wonderland.

Whatever genre you write in, choose a different one. If you write erotic romance, choose...sweet. Or sci-fi. Or non-fiction.

Write a scene. Write the scene you've been struggling with, or find a picture in a magazine and write about it. In the genre you've chosen to break out with.

I can guarantee you that one picture, given to three authors, will result in three stories. If those authors are writing different genres or sub-genres, those stories will be wildly different.

The point of plotting

2009-08-31T09:50:00.002-04:00

Not that I do much of it. A couple chapters out, you know, is my max. Sometimes less than that, or at least no more than a vague idea of where I want everyone to be when the scene or chapter is over.

But I do like to know where the bodies are.

That is, I like to have an idea of how many people are going to die (in a novel) and how many times I expect my hero/heroine to have sex in public. Er, I mean in the book, of course. Where you, the reader, can see it.

I don't think this makes me overly macabre or voyeuristic, just because I think about it in advance. Rather, because these are important parts in the book: murders because it shows how the villain is escalating, and so how the tension should be; sex because if I'm writing an erotic novella, or simply because even in my novels it's going to be an important measure of the romantic progression. So if I have a general idea of how I want those particular story lines to progress, I can tell quite easily if I might have a pacing problem, or if I'm concentrating too hard on one part of the story and not enough on another.

The to-do list

2009-08-30T11:38:00.004-04:00

I've set myself some ambitious--yet simple--writing goals for the next month or so. Although it's an unusual time of year for it, I've been thinking a lot about what I want my life to look like as a whole, and finding it easier than usual to concentrate on what's still "missing." Laminated pages from the NYT best-sellers list, for example.

There seems to be a lot of synchronous energy swirling around me right now, so I'm taking advantage of that. Crossing things off my to-do list. Hitting writing goals (or at least doing better, more consistently, than I have in a long time). Letting creativity feed on itself and watching the words flow more smoothly. Regretting even more than usual those days when work and life-at-large keep me from getting more than my 100 word minimum on the page.

Last week I wrote almost 3,000 words. Far below what I intended to write, but nothing to sneeze at. This week, my goal is to hit 2,000 words a day--difficult, but by no means impossible. I've discovered what slows me down is not being sure what to say. I have three fairly easy-to-write scenes coming up in Dreamwalk (I can knock out a sex scene in no time flat, and there's one on the horizon)...and while it's not about the numbers, it IS about creative flow. Like I said, it feeds on itself. An easy-to-write scene makes a difficult-to-write scene much simpler because the story is moving itself along without my having to think about it much. I only plot a couple of chapters in advance, so you can see where this can be a huge help!

Other things on this week's writing to-do list:

two critique sessions (one with my CP, one with a small group of non-romance writers)
dusting off the first several chapters of an erotic novella that I want to finish and submit
revisions to Heat Index so I can submit it
daily posts in my blogs (yes, that's plural. I also write a spiritual blog under my real name.).
doing creative updates to both blogs
tweaking my agents/publishers list
tweaking the workshop on creativity for next Saturday's CFRW meeting
crossing my fingers that this will be a somewhat quieter week at the day job so I can write during my lunch hour! (yes, crossing my fingers is on my to-do list)
tweaking the schedule of things-to-write-about for this blog (I'm getting some consistency, now I need some scheduling, I think)

Agents and editors and publishers, oh, my

2009-08-29T12:15:00.002-04:00

I'm going to send you right over to Writers at Play. Usually, I lurk over there reading blog posts two or three times a week, but last week I was smart enough--or lucky enough--to hit the home page and read Terri Garey's nice little article on looking for an agent.

It's tempting for writers who are just starting out (or just getting to the "I think I need an agent, editor, or publisher" stage) to look for one of two things in an agent: one who's (relatively) famous, or one who's willing to take you on as a client.

Because I have several writing friends/colleagues who are also at (or just before) the "time to look" stage, I've gotten into the habit of perusing a few agents' blogs. Not nearly enough--I don't have enough time to thoroughly do this every day--but I've found that it really helps. There are some fabulous agents out there who will not make the top of my wish list, because I've realized through paying attention to the things they say that my style may not make them the best fit for me. I'm not naming any names, since, you know, I might have to eat my words and submit to them--they are good agents, but the books they seem to be the most excited about are very different from mine.

If nothing else, it gives me a place to start.

Things that go bump in the night

2009-08-28T09:28:00.003-04:00

I don't like horror, but I do like suspense. I like suspense with a paranormal twist. I suspect, sometimes, that what I'm writing now, with Dreamwalk, would be perilously close to horror if I would let it.

So is it wrong that I don't?

If a story is trying to be darker than I'm writing it, am I erring in holding it back? I'm not trying to write King-esque romance (and I'm not giving up my sex scenes or hero/heroine HEA), no matter what anyone says), after all.

I'm struggling trying to figure out that line (and where I want to cross it) right now. I love dark stories, as long as the romance isn't full of angst. Maybe that's key, actually. There are plenty of books I won't read because I just want to shake some sense into people--angst just isn't my thing (on the printed page, at least). But spooky? Yeah, I could go for that.

Hey, where'd my creativity go?

2009-08-27T06:31:00.002-04:00

Ah, the creative dry spell. They do happen, and sometimes you feel helpless to turn them around. I went through one of these late last year/early this year--about 9 months worth of stuff going on in my life that I let distract me from my personal goals.

It's easy to get caught up in the things going on--in fact, sometimes it's not only easy, it's the most understandable thing in the world. The biggies--family crises, financial crises, plain old ordinary exhaustion--can take you down and out without you getting in a single shot back. And sometimes you just have to let it go until it's run its course.

Or you can write your way through it--probaby the better way to handle it--but good grief, we're human, right? So if you're in the middle of a dry spell, and you know the reasons are good ones, give yourself a break. Read someone else's book. Go to the beach (or the mountains). Watch an old comedy with a box of tissues handy. Treat yourself like you are the most sane, most productive, most intelligent person you know.

When you're ready, write.

New favorites

2009-08-26T08:41:00.002-04:00

I found a new author at the library this weekend. Funny thing is, this writer's been around a while--take a look at his bio on the back cover, and you see he's written a couple dozen books, in fact (and not all in the same year).

This is one reason I love the library, and I love the effort librarians put forth to create displays--themed or otherwise--because that's really where I find the best books. It's my second favorite way to find new authors (word of mouth is probably the best).

Anyway, back to my point. Agent Kristin Nelson posted two covers of a book the other day--one book, two covers--and asked (if I remember correctly) which one people thought best suited the book, once they read the book's description, and which one would encourage them to pick it up (or maybe she didn't ask that and the comments just ended up there).

With this particular author, the cover caught my eye. I don't really know why, since it's really a kind of cover I would usually find not appealing...except that part of it is a newspaper headline, which to me means excitement. You know, it made the news, therefore...so I picked it up, read the inside flap, and took it home with me. And yet, who knows how many times I've seen one of his novels and passed up a terrific read because the cover looked too...well, whatever.

The book is The Fate of Katherine Carr, by Thomas H. Cook. If the end is as good as the beginning, I have a nice, long backlist to read through. I love it when I discover a new author.

Write to goal

2009-08-25T07:06:00.002-04:00

How to make progress in your writing: know where you're going.

Sounds easy, a no-brainer, automatic. After all, who writes aimlessly?

Lots of us.

Right along with the large number of writers I run into who are "dry," creatively (and yes, despite my post yesterday, dry spells do happen, and they're horrible--more on those later), I've been running into a lot of writers who write everything.

This is not necessarily a problem, but it's probably not going to get you published. If nothing else, you need to concentrate on one topic long enough to FTDB (finish the damn book). If you write--and I've done this--a little here, a little there, and ooh, that sounds interesting...well, even if you feel the waves of creativity washing over you, chances are you aren't making any real progress.

Set goals. Even if the goal is: I need to spark creativity and I choose to do this by writing morning pages every day--which would sound aimless to a lot of people since there's no actual book involved--it's a goal, and reaching it is going to move you farther along the path to ... well, whatever your ultimate goal is. FTDB, be more creative in your work, whatever.

If you feel like you're in a slump, and there's a WIP (work in progress) on the table, create a word or page goal. If it's a bad slump, make it a ridiculously easy goal: 100 words, one page. You'll find, more often than not, that you're exceeding this goal, and next thing you know, there's a book in front of you.

Moving ahead

2009-08-24T06:57:00.002-04:00

Seriously, one of my all-time favorite quotes on writing comes from an article I read a couple years back in RWR (the RWA magazine) interviewing Nora Roberts. "The muse is a lazy slut."

Lately, it seems like I'm hearing a lot of people talk about the energy/creativity drain they're going through--I went through a long dry spell late last year/the first part of this year as well. And I forgot to tell myself this very important thing:

It's not about the 'muse'. It's about the writer. And the story. Creativity feeds on itself. Keep writing, and write to goal, and even if it's terrible, and terribly slow, it'll get better. The words will start flowing, the scenes will improve. Life is good.

Tighten up!

2009-08-23T10:02:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I got to hear Leigh Court speak on the subject of writing novellas and short stories. Her presentation included tips for writing a novella--understanding that the challenge of a novella is telling a complete story in something like 40,000 words (often fewer) instead of the 80,000+ you'd have for a single title story. It occurred to me, though, listening to her, that those same pointers really do apply to a well-written longer story.

Jumping off (and borrowing liberally) from Leigh's comments, here are my thoughts:

Start the story with a crisis. One of my favorite books is Karen Rose's You Can't Hide, which starts off smack in the middle of one of those, but then doesn't let up for the next 400-odd pages.
Keep characters, location, plot to a minimum. For a full-length novel, "minimum" is defined differently than for a novella. But the principle applies. Don't clutter your story with unnecessary characters and plot points that don't move the central story forward in some way.
Minimal back story. And--you've heard it before, of course--don't put it all in the first five pages. You need to know whether your heroine likes three creams and two sugars in her coffee, but your reader doesn't, unless it's going to be the means of getting her in trouble.
Make every scene count. 'Nuff said.
Subplots should support your main plot. While it may be tempting to have your hero's best friend fall for the next door neighbor, if it doesn't matter in the story you're telling, you should leave it out. Or make it matter. Maybe he's over at the neighbor's house when he ought to be somewhere else. Or he's there at just the right time to prod the hero into going someplace else...
Make it personal. If the story is dragging, it's likely the stakes aren't high enough. To heighten the stakes, make it emotional.
As long as you're making every scene count, make every word count.

It's all in the point of view

2009-08-21T22:41:00.002-04:00

I'm guest blogging September 1 over at Terry Odell's blog on the subject of 1st person vs 3rd person storytelling.

It's a subject I'm struggling with right now.

I switched Dreamwalk to 1st person because I felt like I wasn't digging deeply enough into my heroine's skin. Then I realized it's really weird to write romantic scenes (this book isn't graphic, just kind of steamy in a couple of spots) in the first person. So my critique partner suggested I try writing those in third person, then edit them into 1st. It seems worth a shot--I'm already editing some already written pages from 3rd to 1st.

There are parts of each I like best--I like the way 1st person narrows the options, making me push a little harder to see a scene through my heroine's eyes. A big drawback, though, is that because my heroine isn't a cop, and people are dying, it's proving difficult to put her on-scene at critical, plot driving moments. So for now, I've added just two scenes in someone else's POV--but not the hero's, and not the villains. Kind of weird. I'll probably end up changing it all back into 3rd, and this book may never get written.

The "R" word

2009-07-31T12:16:00.002-04:00

No, not 'rejection.' The other 'r' word. Restless. Oh, wait, no. Wrong blog. Review. That's what I was going to do: review.

Last week and the week before, I was protesting (mildly, of course) the surfeit of vampires-slash-werewolves-slash-inhuman whatevers parading around disguised as heroes and what-not. Mildly protesting only, of course, because I really can't find a reason to protest any topic being written on, only the quality (or lack thereof) of the writing. Anything else should be chalked up to taste.

But it did get me going to the library website to see what I could find if I typed in "demonology" as a keyword. Actually, what happened was I looked up a book I wanted to re-read: Jessica Andersen's Night Keepers, which I liked a lot--Mayan phrophecy, end of the world, hot heroes, etc. What's not to like? Anyway, one of the key words led me to demonology as a topic. Okay, I'm good with that.

That led me to an unknown (to me) writer named Mike Carey. Carey, it turns out, is a comic book guy--or is that graphic novelist? In my world, a graphic novel is something you don't let anyone under 18 find, but whatever. Be that as it may, Carey's also written some non-graphic novels. I found two at the library: The Devil You Know and The Vicious Circle. The protagonist is an exorcist. No vampires, but there are ghosts and werewolves (more accurately, he calls them by the French loup garou or just weres, since of course they aren't all wolves), and more importantly to me, a rather unique mythology. And pretty good writing. I'm part-way through Vicious Circle, having finished The Devil You Know in almost record time. I'm not saying he kept me up at night like a new Karen Rose novel, but the protagonist is sufficiently tortured without being unbelievable (well, as far as that goes in the world Carey created), the problems that creep up and pounce are varied and interesting, and there is a slate of intriguing secondary characters who all keep things from going exactly where you think they are. The only challenging part (for me, at least) is that Carey's British, the books are set in London, and I'm spending a decent chunk of my time trying to translate. On the other hand, if I ever go over on vacation, I'll know a few choice words I maybe shouldn't.

Good beach read, especially since Carey posits that ghosts don't care for running water. I figure the beach is a pretty safe place to read.

What's that thing following you?

2009-07-28T19:12:00.010-04:00

Okay, when I said I would post more pics on Wednesday, I meant this Wednesday. Really.

Sorry about that. I know you've been waiting with bated breath to see...well, what's to see?

Most--not all, but I'd guess an easy 99%--of pictures purporting to be of ghostly activity are of orbs. Like the one to the right of this cat. Yeah, the white, round, splotchy looking thing.

Orbs are tricky. There're always questions, so it's easier to trust pictures taken by people you know, who don't mind being asked: what was the weather like? Was there dust on your camera lens? Did someone spit at you?

In this case, this picture was taken by my friend who hosted the investigation last week. She gets lots of pictures, and one reason I trust her pictures is they don't always show activity. Or they show it in a different spot in the next frame (dust on the camera lens will result in an "orb" showing up in the same part of the picture every time--I've done it myself).

So, what's an orb? Generally an orb is accepted as evidence of spirit activity. Mostly it's assumed the spirit in question is a ghost, although a lot of researchers don't rule out other spirit activity as well--I tend to view it as a visible anomaly in the energy of an area. You can get lots of orbs on film (or in digital pics) at places like old cemeteries, especially at night, but of course the challenge is ruling out mist, dust, reflected light, and so forth. In the picture here, the brightness of the object in the room on the left led a couple of researchers to suggest it had been caught in motion.

In Emerald Ecstasy, one of the characters is a ghost. (In Dreamwalk, several are.) When the heroine finds him, though, it's because he appears to her as a person. Not a mist, not a whisp of light in the corner of her eye--a full person.

That happens, too. I've friends who tell stories of trying to talk to a person who faded away after just a few seconds. I've seen a couple of pictures (pre-photoshop days, folks) that simply could not be explained away. I've taken a couple myself that have orbs in them, but the truth is I'm not all that sensitive--I have an active imagination, but ghosts don't come up and talk to me (thank goodness!), and I rarely see anything with my physical eyes that can't be explained.

But pictures...the camera catches things we don't see, and since I'm inveterately curious about the world around us--seen and unseen--I'm grateful I get to see pictures that suggest a deeper reality.

Ghosties and beasties and things that go bump in the night

2009-07-20T20:03:00.003-04:00

I'll post some pictures on Wednesday's post. Tonight, it's all about the EMF.

Saturday evening I went ghost hunting with a couple of friends. The friend whose house we were investigating sent pictures of orbs, hooking the rest of us quite easily.

We were armed with cameras--both digital and 35mm, a digital recorder, a video recorder, and an EMF reader. An EMF reader is a handy little device that measures electromagnetic activity. And it's a lot of fun to watch it jump out of its skin when something interesting is happening.

The one I was using was borrowed from a friend, and it was pretty basic. I like the digital kind, but the one with lights turned out to work okay.

I tend to be very skeptical of all things ghostly--I like to think it makes me better at ghost hunting. Mostly, I am better at believing what I see, hear, feel, etc than what someone else does. I, after all, know that I'm not delusional or overly ... imaginative. ('overly' being the operative word here) And I'm skeptical of technology's ability to record things that elude our physical senses. It's not that I don't believe in it, it's just that a healthy skepticism is a handy thing.

But I've seen enough things I couldn't find a logical explanation for, to accept that sometimes you just gotta go with it. Including EMF readers.

The problem with EMF fields is they can blip for all sorts of reasons--a computer, for example, might set one off (I've seen it happen). An electric light. Other things. So when you're standing in the middle of a room, not moving, and the light that's been a steady green for several minutes starts flashing...slowly...up into the red in answer to a question, I take notice. Especially when the same person's been asking lots of questions and the light didn't budge. Definitive? Of course not. That's why questions in ghost investigations tend to involve lots of things that can be checked--possibly--afterward. Name. City of birth. Date of birth. Date of death. Things like that.

Someone said once that believing is seeing. Sometimes, though, seeing is believing and that's okay too.

Or you can just find it entertaining. Disbelieve it all--as one friend of mine does (he sort of believes, but that's more because he believes in me). But when something goes bump in the night, who you gonna call?

Victim or Villain?

2009-07-17T07:16:00.002-04:00

I'm talking about vampire press, of course. Is the poor, misunderstood vampire a hero, struggling to rise above his base nature (let's face it, drinking the blood of anything, much less a human, isn't really at the top of Miss Manners' cultural graces list. You want to argue it's civilized, go right ahead.)? Or is he--as classically portrayed--a villain, intent on seducing every maiden (and probably a few men) in his path, draining her (his) life force until she (he) is nothing but an empty, lifeless shell? Or worse, a new recruit to the hordes of blood-sucking fiends?

And how was he created? Did he willingly participate in his own debauchery? Was he cursed? (I don't know if there are any vampire curses in the world of books. Lori Handeland has a couple of werewolf curses that work really well, but I'm not sure about any vampires being cursed into being.) Was it accidental? Open yourself up to the moment and, bammm, ouch?

As I've said before, I don't understand the appeal of the vampire. I like them as villains. Maybe they're more appealing as heroes if you don't think too hard about what they're doing. Terri Garey pointed out the other day, commenting on my guest post at Writers at Play, that perhaps the bite is symbolic of other penetration...fair enough. I have no problem with people using their mouths, tongues, teeth, to create pleasure. So maybe if you don't think about the fact that they're draining blood in the process....

So maybe I can get the seduction part. But heroic?

"So, Mr. Overbite, what do you really want out of life?"

"Well, Ms. Lovely Neck You've Got There, my primary ambition is using my superhuman strength to save ordinary humans from the packs of demons roaming the planet."

"Very noble, Mr. O. And how do you respond to the charges that your real motives are less than pure? You know, the whole 'I vont to sahck yor bluhd' stereotype?"

"I want only what's best for everyone, Ms. L. By the way, would you like to join me for dinner and a drink?"

Note: one of my all-time favorite books: Bloodsucking Fiends, by Christopher Moore. You want darkly funny portrayal of all things evil, go check out Moore's early works. Skip the recent stuff, go straight to Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends, and The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. Okay, don't skip it, just don't start there. He's best experienced from the very beginning.

Guest Blogger: Tracy Jones -- Tyler's Trek

2009-07-15T06:26:00.005-04:00

This post is a little (okay, a lot) off the usual track. But when the chance came up to spread the word about this event, I jumped at it. After all, I rationalized, I write romance--and sex--and frequently romance and sex leads to having babies. And this post is about one of my favorite babies--Tyler Jones. Tyler is my friend Tracy's absolutely adorable, and somewhat mischievous, 18-month-old son.

The rest of the story, I'll let Tracy tell you.

As many of you know, my son Tyler was born almost 3 months early last year, at 28 weeks gestation. He weighed only 2 pounds, 13 ounces and still had a lot of developing left to do. He spent a long 8 weeks in the NICU before being allowed to come home. Today, he is a happy, healthy toddler who keeps us on our toes constantly! I credit so much of his progress and well-being to the doctors and nurses at Winnie Palmer Hospital here in Orlando. We are lucky to live in this area so that Tyler stayed there. The hospital is amazing – it has the 4th largest NICU in the country and is capable of taking care of the sickest and tiniest patients there are. I've got living proof :)

On September 26th, I will be participating in the Miracle Miles run, along with numerous friends and family, to benefit the Winnie Palmer NICU where Tyler spent so much time. Please take a moment to visit our website, which describes Tyler’s NICU journey in video, pictures and words...and shows the miracle that the doctors and nurses at Winnie Palmer perform every day.

http://www.tylerstrek.webs.com/

I am collecting donations in support of Orlando Health's Miracle Miles event to benefit their NICU. Too many babies are born too early…and each one deserves the same chance in life that Tyler got. My fundraising goal is $10,000 – I really think I can reach that…every $1 helps! There is a guest book – be sure to stop in and show your support.

Corporate Sponsors – A minimum donation of $500 reserves a space on the team t-shirts for your logo. If you are interested, please forward me a high-res image along with any additional wording. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you all for your support over the past 18 months. It never fails to amaze me how many people Tyler has touched already in his lifetime - I hope he realizes one day how big that is!

Tracy

Vampires, Mummies and the Holy Ghost

2009-07-13T07:25:00.002-04:00

Today is "lack of personal responsibility day." I am holding Terri Garey completely responsible for the fact that Jimmy Buffett's "Vampires, Mummies and the Holy Ghost" is running through my head. (I guess I should be glad it isn't "It's a Small World," hmm?) Terri writes these fabulously funny paranormals featuring Nikki Styx, the world's hippest medium, and she invited me to do a guest spot over at Writers at Play today (the post should be up any time)...and asked me this loaded question: vampires, werewolves, or ghosts?

Check out the blog for my answer, if you haven't guessed it already.

Also, I'm holding the weather man (out of the kindness of my heart, I won't give his name) responsible for my "what happened to common sense" mood. Really, do I need to know it will be 91 in my little corner of the city, and just 90 in that corner over there?

And it's Monday. Looks like it's going to be an interesting week...

Friday Fiction

2009-07-10T11:36:00.002-04:00

I do read. Not as much as I used to, and not as widely as I'd like, but I do get a few books in here and there. Usually a blend of fiction and non-fiction, favorite authors and "I really ought to try."

I write, as you know, erotic romance and what I've decided to call "paranormal romantic suspense" (I'm sure someone else has already called it that, but what the heck, so I'm a little slow.). I thought about calling it "literary paranormal horror romantic suspense" but I thought that was probably overkill, and besides, I'm not sure it's really very horror-filled or literary. So the few pages that are will just have to be ignored by the commercial-fiction majority.

Paranormal, though. Hm. The problem with paranormal, as I remember every time I judge a contest, is that it really covers a lot of ground. Trying to read one popular author this past week, I remember that some of it is really familiar ground, and I still don't know why some of it sells. Vampires, for example. I will freely admit to enjoying JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books, once my CP bludgeoned me into reading them. Truly, though, it's because I thought they were interesting characters and had a lot of chemistry, as well as some deviations from the typical "I vant to suck your blohd" schtick. The one I tried to read this week, not so much. Two chapters in, I gave up and put it on the stack to return to the library.

The story I'm working on right now--Dreamwalk--and the one that's more or less plotted out--Resurrection--don't have vampires, or werewolves, or any of the more typical paranormal elements. What they have are smart, talented people who accept that what you see isn't necessarily what you get in the world around you. Which is pretty much how I look at life. But then, how do I push them? If my heroine (in Dreamwalk, she's a ghost hunter) finds the unexpected to be, well, expected, how do I turn her world upside down?

Hot and Hotter

2009-06-21T06:20:00.002-04:00

It's 80 degrees already. It's 6:20 a.m. and it's 80 damned degrees. I know there are places on earth for which this is normal, but Orlando isn't one of them. It's hot.

But I digress.

Here's what's really hot. Dara Edmondson, author of hot contemporary women's fiction like Compromising Positions and Falling Star (her recent Wild Rose Press Titles) and Captured (Red Sage), will be joining me next Saturday on Jose Miranda's Yo Soy Latino radio show. This one-hour 'magazine' show has been host to me twice before, and it's always a lot of fun. Jose has a really relaxed attitude, and he--and his crew--LOVE romance and romance novelists.

Dara and I are both giving away books, in case you needed another reason to listen.

Here's the where and when: Saturday, June 27, noon(ish) - 1(ish), WEUS 810 (a.m.). If you aren't in the Orlando area, listen to us on the web at the Yo Soy Latino website. There's a "listen" button on the top left. Note: in case you're concerned about the name, Jose's show is generally directed to a Hispanic audience, however the show is in English...and always about something interesting.

Updates

2009-06-11T20:37:00.002-04:00

A few quick updates: First, I cancelled my website, www.laradien.com. I wasn't making the use of it that I should have been to justify continuing to pay for it. Hopefully before my registration expires in December I'll be able to bring it back up. For now, though, it's kaput.

Second, I have a title, finally, for my latest contracted story. We switched settings to Ireland, and the new title is Emerald Ecstasy. So now we start the editing process.

I have a new deal with my critique partner. She's promised to beat me over the head with a stiletto (the shoe, not the knife) if I don't meet my weekly writing goals. This is especially important because I'm going to try to keep working on Dreamwalk while I'm doing revisions and edits to Emerald.

Back to it...I have work to do before I hit the hay! Yes, it's nice to say I get up at five to go to the gym, but I pay for those bragging rights...

Dreaming, Doing, and Deadlines

2009-06-06T06:22:00.002-04:00

First...woohoo! It's been just about 3 weeks since my last post...I'm getting better. I think. Actually, I have several things to write about, so if the clock gods will work with me, I may get back to a productive schedule.

Which brings me to today's topic.

I am deadline oriented. I've known for years (decades, really) that I work better under the pressure of a clock. There are times this is good, because I don't crumble under pressure--I step up and do what needs to be done, even if it is someone else's emergency, and I do it reasonably well.

On the other hand, I don't do as well taking the long-term view of things. It may be a side-effect of my type A personality, where I'm so focused on the urgency of whatever I'm doing at the moment, that I don't have time to attend to longer-term patterns.

I have plenty of goals, short and long term (let's call them dreams, shall we? Just so my title makes sense), but I'm better at taking aim at shorter-term goals and working on them. Hard for me to map out my entire career, for example, easier to look at today's writing goal.

So in the "doing," I have a bit more trouble. Procrastination, some people call it. Easily distracted, I've been told (an ex-boyfriend of mine used to actually laugh at me--kindly, he really thought it was funny--about my "hobby of the week," because I throw myself into things, and if it's the wrong thing for me, *poof* something replaces it a week later, and I'm stuck with, well, stuff. Beads, yarn, books on various topics, etc. But I digress.). I've been working on the same big areas of my life for, oh, 20 years or so, without much progress.

Then I got a deadline. Okay, not really a deadline--let's call it more of a cosmic ultimatum. I have to dial my type A personality down to a type B and make some drastic changes. It's a health issue, but my immmediate realization was that it isn't a medical issue, it's a lifestyle issue. I move too fast, too hard, too crazily, and my body is protesting. Vigorously.

To bring myself back to healthy, I have to slow down. Figure out what's important and do only that. Stop grousing about how I don't have enough time to do everything, and recognize that, duh, no, I don't. No one does.

A few months ago, I was looking at a garden--herbs, flowers. prayer flags, a fountain--stunned by the beauty and peace of it, and wondering why I shy away from tranquility. Now I have to learn to make friends with it, revel in the depths of it. Calm down those firing nerves and bring my focus back to center.

My to do list has gotten a lot shorter recently. Writing. Yoga. Cooking healthy food. Going to the gym. Writing more. Journalling, clearing up the past. Volunteering...only not so much. Meditating...only not so little.

Nothing like a kick in the ass from the Universe to get your priorities in order. I've dreamed, I've done...now I'm doing more with less. Never mind the deadlines.

Contract and Contest

2009-05-14T12:09:00.002-04:00

The good news: This morning I received a contract offer on my ero/rom novella Highland Fling. As with my other three ero/rom shorts, this one will be published by The Wild Rose Press Scarlet line.

The bad news: I’ve known since shortly after submission that I’d need a new title (Hot Highland Fling is on its way to the Scarlet line at TWRP from another author).

Apparently my creativity doesn’t extend that far, since for the life of me I can’t think of a replacement title at the moment, and I need one quickly. So I’m begging for help.

Story details that might matter:
It’s in Scotland.
There’s a castle, a ghost, a family legend and a treasure (and no, I don’t think my editor will go for “Family Jewels” as a title, plus I already sent out an email to some friends about this and she's seen it).
There’s sex (of course).

And of course it ends quite happily (it is a romance).

If your idea gets picked, I’ll buy you a copy of any one of my books you want (including this one when it’s published, but if you can’t wait that long, there are three of them already out).

Ideas???? You can call me, email me, or post in comments if you want everyone to know.

I'll send a whole bunch to my editor later today and as soon as we have a title, I'll let you know.

Life goes on

2009-04-11T21:14:00.002-04:00

Dad passed a few days after my latest post, sending me into a bit of a tailspin. Okay, more than a bit--in fact, it was one of those months (yes, the whole thing) when I spent half my time figuring out what I needed to do next, and the other half wondering why I wasn't better at the whole enlightenment thing.

Meditation and staying away from the drama is much easier when a) things are calm and/or b) it's someone else's drama. Me? I need work. Good thing that was my big goal for the year.

On the writing front, it's lots of fun. If you pay any attention to the rarely changing list on the sidebar, you noticed that Highland Fling got changed to done/queried after MONTHS of being stuck at the same word count. I spent a chunk of my vacation writing (long hand) and finished it up a couple of weeks ago. Am hoping my editor likes it enough to pick up. It's a bit unusual, and I'll post a bit of it after I've gotten word on whether I have a contract.

I also picked back up Heat Index, a fun short I started a while back and got distracted from. I'm in the middle of a challenge to complete 100 pages by the end of April, and part of that was finishing Highland Fling; it's proved useful (because it's a 3.3 pages a day challenge) to keep on track finishing Heat Index. In fact, I should be done with it within the next few days.

Had a second interview today with Jose Miranda on the show Yo Soy Latino; he's asked me to make semi-regular "appearances" (it's radio). Valentine's Day was my first visit--we talked about spicing up a long-term relationship. Today, it was more about the writing process. Where do ideas come from, why would a former lawyer want to write romance, that sort of thing. After I got over being worried about making the microphone screech, it was a lot of fun. I'll let y'all know when the next show is, in case you want to listen (it's broadcast online as well).

And I expect to be making more-regular appearances here, too.

Wish me luck with both!

Thanks, Dad

2009-03-04T21:35:00.003-05:00

My father is dying. As in, he'll never read this post, won't be around for someone to read it to him. He's been sick for several years now and last week he was admitted to the hospital for the last time. The doctors think he won't make it through tonight. He outlived several prognoses, including the last (24-72 hours) one, but he said then that he's ready to go.

So this is my thank you to him. And to my mom, too, since the two of them together instilled in me a love of books that led me straight here. I swear I inherited my storytelling addiction to both of them. There is one big difference between them, though.

Mom (I really cringe to say this, by the way, since she just might read this post) informs me she really likes my books. Sex scenes (there are lots) included. Dad...well, let's just say that when I got my contract for Fortuneteller, I told him it was on "the risque side of bawdy" and that was all he wanted/needed to know. To the best of my knowledge, he never made it past the cover. It became sort of a standing joke between us. I'm not sure he understood--ever--why I wanted to write romance, but at least he didn't complain when I did.

According to my baby book, I was taking a book to bed at naptime instead of stuffed animals. I learned to read at the age of two or three. The two things you could count on seeing if you visited our house was a vast collection of music--I have Dad to thank for my eclectic music tastes, although I'm pretty sure he never listened to NIN or Modest Mouse--and walls of books. I inherited his appreciation for history, his talent for scrambling eggs, and his love of good beer. Fortunately, I did not inherit his ability to drink bad beer in the interest of trying something new.

He taught me how to play chess and chop wood. Passed on his love of folk music and a good story, the pleasure of an old movie. A curiosity that drives me to pick up the oddest books off the nonfiction shelves at the library. Never got me to like John Wayne or opera, though.

He probably taught me things I don't even recognize yet. I can only hope, of course, that he didn't teach me anything that I'll say and then think "oh, my god, I sound like my father."

So...thanks, Dad. Hope when you get where you're going that all the music is western swing, and all the books are biographies of your heroes. With some punk rock and romance novels thrown in just to shake things up a bit.

Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap

2009-03-03T19:03:00.002-05:00

First: spoiler alert. I will try to avoid giving away details, but, really, if you are a fan of Karen Rose and Kay Hooper, you should know I'm going to talk about them in a second. And their books. Specifically, their most recent books. So if you're on book one of the Vartanian books by Rose, or haven't started the "Blood" titles from Hooper, consider yourself warned.

I admit it, I'm a sucker for the bad boys. And girls.

Of course, I'm not referring to the typical misbehaving, preheroic hero (I really prefer the law and order types), but the villain of the piece. A well-crafted villain (regardless of sex) really makes the story.

Now, there are a lot of books with really weak villains, and sometimes those books are "good" books overall, but really, I want to be wondering one of three things through the entire story: who is this person, are they going to get him (or her) in time, and/or are they going to catch him (or her) EVER!!

Two of my favorite writers -- Karen Rose and Kay Hooper -- recently wrote some stories involving that last "what if." Karen Rose just finished a trio where not only do some of the good guys carry over, but so does the question of who started it all. The most recent two books from Kay Hooper make it obvious at the end (of each) that the villains are mere pawns.

As a rule, this would make me nuts. Alex Kava did it several years ago and I went crazy between books, waiting to see what happened next. Good for her, ulcer-inducing for me!

Back to Hooper and Rose. In "Nothing to Fear," you know who the villain is from page one (well, chapter one, at least). It's the cat and mouse (the villain being the cat in this case) that drags you into the story and doesn't let you go.

Both authors put so much into their villains that reading their books (note: with Hooper, I'm referring only to her Bishop books) a) keeps me up all night and b) not just when I'm reading them. Very scary--and reliably so, which is the best part.

It's all about the bad boys.

It's Valentine's Day...do you know where your hero is?

2009-02-14T11:11:00.002-05:00

Actually, when I first wrote that line, it was Wednesday, and I was thinking "It's 8 a.m., do you know where your hero is?"

Really, do we HAVE to keep track of them constantly? No, I'm not naming the book. Suffice it to say that one I read fairly recently -- an author I'd never read before -- had so much heroic navel-gazing and going to bed and brushing his teeth (well, not really) the book came this close to hitting the wall. And I never, never do that. I mean, it's not the book's fault, right?

We've all heard it--at least those of us who write romantic fiction have all heard it--a million times. Watch your backstory (almost inevitably, navel-gazing is backstory in the key of angst). Don't write anything that doesn't move the story forward. But, you say, I NEED to show everything normal so we can all see what a jolt it is when the shit hits the fan. I know you say this, because I've been guilty of it myself (early on). I still do it too often, but I try to remember to slice up the scene when it happens. Because let's face it, normal doesn't move the story forward. At least not far. Also, it's easy to assume everything used to be normal unless the author says otherwise:

"A flash at the window. Instinct had her diving for the floor a millisecond before the glass shattered. Great. She was already on a first name basis with the locksmith; she'd hoped to avoid meeting the window guys another day or so." (not an actual quote from anything, although I might use it one day, come to think of it ... kind of has that OMG snarky tone I'm so fond of)

An opening like this, and you could be forgiven for not assuming normal was the norm. And you didn't need chirping birds and sunshine to set it up. Or a page and a half of the heroine ruminating on how much she needed to discover what really happened that dark, stormy night ...

One final little bitty note--in an hour or so I'll be doing my first "author interview" via phone to a local radio station. It's a new program, they're focusing on romance, and they contacted me yesterday to see if I'd do a phone interview. Should be fun.