Romance Worth Killing For

Time Out

2008-01-14T08:56:00.001-08:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for this special news bulletin:

(That was my lame attempt at humor. Considering I've only had 1/2 cup coffee this morning and I'm still suffering from the mother of all ear infections, it's not half bad...)

After much discussion, the girls here at Romance Worth Killing For have decided to take a mini-break from the blog. We each have some busy things going on in our lives - Linda's working on her Masters degree, working full time and juggling multiple releases from Sahmain, Joan's going back to work full time and managing her new RWA chapter, and my responsibilities with my RWA chapter and my precocious 3 yr old (who for some strange reason does not like me at the computer anymore) are limiting my online time.

Real life gets in the way sometimes. And when we look at juggling what we're each holding, we agree the writing comes before blogging. So for the time being we're going to put the blog on hold and come back to it in a few months when we're all refreshed and ready to commit more time to it.

In the meantime, if you're still interested in following what's going on with us, you can visit each of our personal blogs. Joan, Linda and I would love to hear from you, so don't be a stranger. Stop by when you can and let us know how you are, too. And when we're back, we'll be sure to let you know!

What Would Your Hero Do?

2008-01-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

Last night, I caught a few minutes of Notorious on the Biography channel. I’d seen the episode, about a daughter accused of helping her boyfriend kill her mother, once before, and the scene I walked in on last night was one the DH and I had talked about the first time around.

Backstory: The teenagers brutally murdered the mother, then left in her van, using the ATM card for money to fund a multi-state ride across I-10. They were finally stopped after a high-speed chase in Texas, in a county where the sheriff (not sure if he’s still in office) prides himself on keeping crime and those who err on the side of it out of his territory. So when he and other officers attempted to stop the van, the teens made an egregious error.

They didn’t stop.

Translation: I’m defying your authority. Heck, I’m giving your authority the finger, with both hands.

The sheriff and his deputies made them stop.

So the video . . . deputies have the two boys, suspected of carving up a woman, out on the side of the highway. They’re prone, about to be cuffed. The sheriff walks over and plants his boot in the driver’s ribs. Not a toe-first kick. A flat, tight, boot-to-the-ass kick. He did not commence to whup up on the boy, as my fifth period freshmen would put it. One very controlled, well-placed, I’m-top-dog-and-don’t-you-forget-it, you-don’t-run-from-me-in-my-county kick and he stepped away.

My first thought was “day-um.”

My second was, “If I let Tick or Cookie or whoever do that and subbed to a crit group, people would be screaming about non-heroic actions.”

What about realistic actions? We like cop heroes because they’re masculine and tough, men who live on the edge of danger. And sometimes real men who are masculine and tough, men who live at the fringes of danger, will plant a boot on your ass if you piss them off.

Example: High speed chase on the interstate, several city officers and county deputies involved. Two of the deputies are brothers with a close bond. The suspect rams the side of one’s car, sending his unit rolling several times down an embankment. Because the brother is the officer closest to the suspect now, he must stay in the chase. As medics and other officers race to check on his brother, he continues the pursuit. Finally, the suspect is stopped. The brother gets to him first and drags him from the car. Still unsure of his younger’s brother fate, he slams the suspect down on the hood of his own patrol unit to search and cuff him, probably a little harder than necessary, while snarling, “That’s for hitting my brother.” He didn’t shoot the guy or punch him or beat the snot out of him, all of which he told us later he wanted to do.

So, reigning in adrenaline and anger is heroic, right?

I think, as a reader, I forgive a lot. I mean, come on. I love Rhett Butler. Can’t make myself read the book again, but I love Rhett. He’s a cad. A scoundrel. Not hero-material.

And I firmly believe if you made the mistake of running from him, he’d place a boot to your ribs.
What realistic, yet borderline-unheroic behavior will you forgive your favorite heroes?

Breathe...Just Breathe...

2008-01-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit fried...hence my LOSER status in the POSTING department.

I'll spare you the gory details for now. Instead I'll torture you by telling you about them one by one.

Let's start with contest entries.

I just finished the score sheets and comments for 5 Gotcha Entries. They were due...today. I made it--with about an hour to spare.

Phew.

I've done this a few years now. Every year after I spend hours upon hours judging and offering comments, constructive criticism and kudos, I swear I'm not doing it next year. And the next year the contest rolls around and they ask for volunteers, and I say, "Sure, I'll do it."

**smacking my forehead**

Man, done right, that is a time-consuming, draining exercises.

Have you/do you judge contests? Which ones? How much time do you put into them? Do you love it, hate it or are indifferent to it but do it to pitch in?

Little Pearls

2008-01-07T10:28:00.001-08:00

This time of year, all the buzz on blogs and loops and writers websites deal with goals and to-do lists, dreams and aspirations. We all have them. Some of us write them out and stick them on a big post-it board in our office, some of us make lists on our computers or on paper and stick them in a drawer, others of us keep them filed away in our heads. Whether you need to see those goals daily or simply think about them is up to you, but one thing I'm sure we all could use from time to time is a good dose of motivation. I know I sure do. Though my writing goals are ingrained in my head and I know where I'm going, a few reminders here and there that I'm on the right path as I make my way never hurts.

A very dear writer friend of mine got me a nifty little book for Christmas. It's called the Writer's Little Instruction Book: Inspiration & Motivation by Paul Raymond Martin. Now, I'm really not one for craft books, and most inspirational books just don't interest me, but this one is pocket-sized and instead of pages and pages of this-is-what-you-need-to-do-to-stay-motivated instructions, it's simply full of one-liners - pearls of wisdom that make you stop, think, and realize you're on the right road to get to your goal. And wow, yeah, it is inspirational all by itself.

I'm going to share some of my favorite quotes from the book here:

Writing is the only known cure for not writing.

Writer's block does not spring upon one full blown; it worms its way into your consciousness. Dispel the first and every subsequent niggling doubt.

A negative attitude will erode your creative landscape more surely than a torrent of criticism.

Writers make sentences. Wanna-bes make excuses.

You needn't be in control of your material to begin writing - only to finish.

Write what won't let you sleep in the middle of the night.

Your favorite piece of writing will always be your next one.

Focus on identifying what is wrong, not on fixing it. Fixing comes later.

The best thing about writing? There is no wrong way to do it.

Working writers hardly ever write well on the first try. It usually takes many rewrites to write well. Even for famous writers.

Don't talk yourself out of a story. Instead, write the story out of yourself.

Writing generates inspiration. Not the other way around.

and finally,

A person may be born with the potential to be a writer, but every writer is self-made.

Do you have any quotes that inspire you to keep reaching for your dream?

Time's Not A' Wastin'!

2008-01-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

I returned to work today, after a lovely two weeks of holiday break.

Oh. My. God.

Here's what lies on my plate for the next two weeks:

1) Edits on ABM due Jan. 18.
2) Print galleys for TAC due. . . Jan. 18.
3) Two papers, two discussion postings and follow-ups, two quizzes, all the reading etc. for my graduate courses.
4) Begin teaching The Scarlet Letter.
5) Begin teaching Macbeth.
6) Begin teaching Romeo & Juliet.
7) Begin the Personal Research Project for my 11th graders.
8) Begin the I-search Research Project with my 9th graders.
9) Supervise the transition to semester two of the Senior Project with my 12th graders.
10) Grades due Jan. 8.

Did I mention my house is undergoing eight weeks' worth of intensive renovations?

There are also a pair of Monsters roaming my house who require clean clothes, sustenance and parental attention on a pretty regular basis.

There's no room for wasted time in my life. How do I stay on track? I keep a daily/weekly/monthly planner with me at all times. If it needs to get done, it goes in the planner. I set daily goals -- i.e., if ABM is 280 pages long and I have two weeks to get it edited, I need to do at least 20 pages a day to get it done. Ditto with TAC. So, for the next two weeks . . . 40 pages of editing, daily. No excuses. If I miss a day, it gets made up the next day.

I also set reminders into my Yahoo mail. This runs them along the bottom of my mail when I open it and sends me email reminders. I use this for things like my appointments to blog at my publisher blog, etc.

That's two ways I keep my head above water.

Do you have a full plate? What time management tips do you have to share?

Into the Woods

2007-12-31T18:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years to everyone!!! Looks like Joan is going to talk about resolutions, so I'll stick to fun medical facts for your fiction.

We all love to throw our Heroes curve balls, move them out of their comfort zones, give them physical challenges to overcome, and place them in life or death situations.

One of the most common of these is the wilderness--the stuff of Grimm fairy tales, boogey men and primal nightmares. But what to do once we get our characters out there in the deep, dark woods-- how do we realistically get them back to the ranch in one piece?

Let's use an example from one of my old manuscripts. The hero, Lucky, is a city boy, an ATF agent whose cover has been blown by some renegade militia types. Poor Lucky, he's been shot, the bad guys are hot on his tail, and the only place to go is into a wilderness area. Oh yeah, it's January and a nor'easter is heading right toward him.

What does our hero need right now to ensure his survival?

The most important survival tool is attitude. Not just a stubborn will to live, although that is vital, but also the ability to focus and prioritize, to accept that something bad has happened and move on, and to improvise, think outside the box.

Aron Ralston, the climber who amputated his own hand when pinned beneath a boulder, didn't waste time on self-recrimination. He spent five days improvising various methods to either move that boulder, attract help or free his arm. At the same time he also attended to his other physical needs: temperature stability, water, food.

Top of my wish list if I was stranded anywhere: duct tape.

Got a broken arm or leg? Duct tape holds your splint together. Deep cut or gunshot wound (as in Lucky's case)--duct tape holds the edges together or secures a dressing. By the way, your heroine can really help out if she's prepared for that time of the month-- maxipads make ideal dressings.

Need to build a shelter? Or make a pair of sunglasses so you don't go snow blind (punch a small hole in the duct tape for each eye to look through); wrap it around your ankles as gaiters to keep snow or water out; tape up a sprain; make a sling; blaze a trail; patch up some blisters (once applied, try not to remove it until you're back in civilization or major ouch); you can even fashion clothing from it!

A few trash bags can also come in handy. Lightweight, easy to carry, cheap and versatile. Got rain or snow--instant rain poncho. Need a shelter to bivouac the night in? Fill one with dry pine boughs or leaves, and you've got an itchy but warm sleeping bag. Or cut it open and use your duct tape to fashion a "pup" tent. You can also cut strips to blaze a trail or to use as lashing. Caught wearing sneakers in the snow? Make goulashes.

For first aid it gives you waterproof dressing material, also use the bag part (Ziploc bags work great for this as well) to flush out and irrigate wounds or burns. Just cut the corner off the bottom of the bag, fill with water, hold the top tight (or duct tape it) and poke a hole in the corner, and you have a high pressure irrigation system. And if you need to carry water but didn't bring your Camelbak, you can haul as much as you can carry.

What if you are caught out in the woods with "nothing"? Do a quick inventory, you'd be surprised what you really do have. Nasty gash on the scalp-- tie the edges together with your hair; it worked for the frontier pioneers. Got a broken arm or collarbone? Use the cuff button to attach your shirt sleeve to your collar and viola, instant sling.

Bitten by a snake and no Acewrap handy to use as a compression dressing to stop the venom flow--use your sock. (Note: compression means you can slip one finger beneath it--NOT a tourniquet, and please, no cutting and sucking snake bites! Depending on the kind of snake, almost half are "dry" or venom free, and all you're doing is making it worse by adding a laceration and your dirty mouth germs to an area that's already damaged.)

Fall in the water and need a flotation device? If you're wearing anything water repellant, take it off, tie it like a balloon and blow it up. This technique is one of the reasons people in Alaska swear by Carhartt clothing--there have been several people there literally saved by their pants!

Need lashing for a shelter or to make a splint? Shoelaces or your belt. Need a signal mirror--wearing any jewelry? Want a compass--use your watch, or make a "sundial" compass with a stick. Got matches but no dry tinder? How about the lining from inside your coat or fuzz from your socks?

You get the idea. Remember, attitude is the most important survival tool there is, followed by imagination. Writers, with our positive, no quit attitudes and familiarity with the realm of possibilities, should make for the perfect survivalists!

Anyone with their own wilderness survival techniques or stories? I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for reading!
CJ

Holiday Hibernation?

2007-12-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

Has your laptop keyboard seen more of the screen than you have lately? (In other words, has it been closed more than open?)

Holidays, whether filled with joyous family or barely tolerable in laws (or even vice versa) are busy. Visits, dinners, parties, cooking, cleaning, shopping, decorating...it can be both exhilarating and exhausting.

I haven't been as sluggish with my writing this holiday season as I usually am. I attribute that to my new Alphasmart. Maybe because it's portability is working for me. Maybe because it's still a new toy I like to play with. Maybe because I've been working on breaking through my creativity blocks and pushing past the apprehension of writing new.

Whatever it is, I'm writing.

Has your holiday this year been hectic or harmonious? Productive or futile? Mine's been both hectic and productive. I can't say there's been anything harmonious about it, although I'm home for New Years with 4 days off. The bedroom-slash-office is going to get cleaned and organized even if it kills me...which it might.

Next week I'll talk about goals/resolutions for the coming year...put on your thinking caps so we can chat about it.

Wishing everyone a published new year. :-)

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T00:30:00.001-08:00

Have a wonderful holiday!!!

Excerpt 2: HOLD ON TO ME by Linda Winfree

2007-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

I was going to write this spectacularly helpful post on crafting a marketing plan, but the cold medicine is working against me. Next week. I'll even share my marketing plans.

Instead, here's a second excerpt from my latest release, Hold On to Me, now available from Samhain Publishing.

She keeps a secret buried in the past. He wants the truth—now. But an unknown killer could destroy their future.

Hold On to Me by Linda Winfree
Book Three in the Hearts of the South series.

*
Outside, he glanced up at the thunderclouds gathering in the western sky, backlit by the afternoon sun. He couldn’t shake the gut intuition that said Caitlin’s disappearance had more to do with him than with something case related.

She waited under the porte-cochere, leaning against a column, staring across the parking lot, tapping her cell phone against her lips.

“Cait?”

Not looking at him, she straightened. “Ready?”

Her voice sounded raw, strangled, the aftereffects of tears plain on her face. His chest tightened and he reached for her. “What’s wrong?”

She pulled free of his light hold, her movements jerky. “Can we go, please?”

“Not yet.” A couple entering the lobby cast them a curious look and he lowered his voice. “You were fine earlier and you’ve been crying. Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s none of your business and I wish you’d simply leave me alone.” She turned on him, eyes narrowed to green slits, sparking with bad temper. “Which part of ‘we’re colleagues’ did you not get, Calvert? I don’t go around sharing my personal life with Cook or Schaefer. What makes you different?”

Her anger set him back for all of two seconds before his own rose to match it. “Maybe the fact we had a personal relationship? Remember that, Cait? That’s what sets me apart from Cookie or Jeff, the fact you all but told me you loved me, the fact I’ve had you wrapped around me and screaming my name.”

“So the sex was good.” She strode toward the parking lot. “Get over it. I did.”

“No.” He caught up to her halfway to his truck, grabbed her arm, spun her to him. He leaned down, his face close to hers. “It was more than that and you know it. Something got in the way and hell if I know what it is—”

“God, you’re stubborn.” She fairly growled the words at him, pushing away, continuing toward his dusty Z71. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I met someone else while you were gone? Or maybe I decided I wanted something different? Or even that maybe I just didn’t want you anymore! How many times do I have to say it before it sinks through that thick skull of yours?”

Holy hell, but he was tired of this. “So that’s it?”

“That’s it.” She tugged at the door handle. “Unlock it.”

“You don’t want me.”

Ire flushed her face. “Didn’t I—”

He smothered her protest with his mouth. For a half second, she stiffened in his embrace and lifted her hands, probably to shove him away, before she clutched the front of his shirt and pulled him to her, kissing him with a hunger close to desperation. Desire barreled through him, blending with the frustrated anger, making the kiss rougher than any they’d shared before. He flattened her back against the truck, opening his mouth over hers, stroking his tongue between her lips.

She wound her arms around his waist, arching into him, and he pulled her closer, as near to him as he could get her. She stroked the bunched muscles at his lower back and he groaned into her mouth. Lord, he loved the way she touched him and it had been too damn long since he’d had her hands on him. He’d needed this since she stepped out of that car at Ash’s, since he’d come home from Missisippi. Hell, he’d needed this, needed her, the whole damn time he’d been gone, pretending to be everything he wasn’t.

He splayed his fingers at the curve of her hips. She tasted of mint and passion, the essence of her rocking him to the core. He was growing hard and heavy, an uncomfortable snugness at his groin. Heat trailed through him.

She nipped at his bottom lip, then soothed it with the tip of her tongue, pushing his need higher.

An engine rumbled on the side street and brakes whined. A horn blared, followed by a piercing male wolf whistle. Caitlin went rigid in his arms. Tick pulled away and stared into green eyes almost black with desire. His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath and get his body under control.

“Now tell me you don’t want me.”

Copyright © 2007 Linda Winfree
All rights reserved ~ a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication

Link to book (and another excerpt): http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/hold-on-to-me

Now Available: HOLD ON TO ME by Linda Winfree

2007-12-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

{Pssst, E! This is an added scene in the new version.)

She keeps a secret buried in the past. He wants the truth—now. But an unknown killer could destroy their future.

Hold On to Me by Linda Winfree
Book Three in the Hearts of the South series.

For FBI profiler Caitlin Falconetti, immersing herself in her job is the only way to quell the memories of a vicious, near-fatal attack and what it cost her, including the only man she ever loved. Better to let him think she simply rejected him, rather than reveal a painful secret that she's certain would have destroyed his feelings for her.

Investigator Lamar “Tick” Calvert is determined to clean out the corruption-riddled sheriff’s department in his hometown. While he understands Caitlin's drive to excel at her job, that doesn’t mean he's happy about the prospect of working with his former lover, the one woman he tried and failed to hold onto.

A rash of unsolved murders, including a politician's daughter, brings them together to find the murderer before another woman dies. Daily contact re-ignites the lingering attraction between them, but Caitlin won't risk opening herself and revealing her secret. She plans to complete the killer's profile, make an arrest and get out of town for good.

Tick plans to solve this case, too, but now that Caitlin's back in his life, he also plans to finally dig up the truth about why she left him.

But there's an added complication—the killer isn't done, and Caitlin could be the next target.

*

The squad room lay quiet and deserted. A subdued rumble of activity drifted up the stairs from the dispatch area, mixing with the scent of stale coffee lingering in the air.

The few bites of chile relleno Tick had forced himself to eat formed a lump in his stomach. He tucked his cigarettes in his pocket, the two he’d smoked back-to-back on the way over here not really settling him down.

He paused in the doorway to the conference room. Jeff and Cookie were nowhere in sight. Caitlin sat, reading the red leather-bound journal they’d taken from Amy’s room, a cup from the local java joint at her elbow. He watched her, the thick black silk of her hair pulled into a loose knot, the Fibbie suit traded for jeans and a simple white T-shirt under a neat seersucker jacket. One loafer-clad foot tapped the floor, a frown of concentration wrinkling her brow.

Damn, she was beautiful.

Beautiful and scarred. Not visibly damaged, but something had stolen her away from him.

Damned if he wasn’t going to find out what. If he was trapped into this working arrangement, so was she. This time, he’d make it a hell of a lot harder for her to dodge the issue.

“Find anything interesting?”

She startled like a scalded cat. The diary slid to the floor and one flailing hand collided with her coffee, sending the dark liquid across the table.

“Oh, hell!” She jumped to her feet and righted the cup. He grabbed a handful of napkins from the shelf by the door and began mopping up the mess. She glared, her eyes big and dark with fury in her pale face. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, Calvert.”

“Who’s sneaking?” He dropped the sopping mass of napkins in the trash. “I just walked into my own department and asked a simple question.”

She leaned down to retrieve the book, but he reached it first. They straightened and he proffered it, merely the length of the volume between them. She took it from him with ill grace. “A little advance warning would be nice.”

“You’re awful jumpy.” He studied her as she sank into the chair again. The color didn’t return to her face and tiny tremors shook her slender fingers. A warning flag waved in his mind.

“I was reading.”

He pulled out the chair cater-cornered and closest to hers, an old interrogator’s trick. She flicked a glance at him and shifted to the farthest edge of her seat.

“So how’ve you been?”

“Fine. Thank you.”

“Busy?” He leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. He stretched his legs, crowding hers a little, forcing himself into a semblance of casual relaxation. “Probably had to drop a lot of things to come down here.”

“Not really.” She scratched a note on a legal pad, her knuckles white. “I’ve been out of the field.”

That surprised him. She lived for the damn job. At one time, he’d been fully prepared to take a backseat to that drive of hers, as long as they could be together. “Why?”

Her Montblanc pen faltered, ink smearing on the paper. She dropped it and looked up, her eyes cool and shuttered. “Did I miss something, Calvert? When did we agree to play twenty questions?”

He smiled, the “aw-shucks-good-ol’-boy” one he used whenever he had to worm his way under the defenses of a local suspect. “You said it, Falconetti, we have to work together. I’m just playing nice, making conversation.”

“Try selling that line of bull to someone who’ll buy it.” Her hands were in her lap now, but he’d bet his next pack of smokes her fingers were wound into fists. The whole line of her body screamed with tension and the need for escape. How many times had he seen that posture on a perp? “You’re digging.”

“That implies you’re hiding something.”

She pushed her chair back, obviously preparing to flee. “Hiding something? You’re deluded—”

“What is it, Cait?” He grasped her wrist, holding her in the chair with a light touch. “What the hell happened while I was in Mississippi?”

“Let go.”

“Tell me.”

“Don’t touch me.” They stared at one another, the power struggle pulsing to life, growing and twisting between them. “I mean it, Tick, let go or—”

“Or what? You’ll slap a sexual harassment suit on me? Ruin my career?” He leaned forward, ready to call her bluff. “Go for it, precious.”

The endearment he’d only ever used with her slipped out and her eyes widened, darkened. She moistened her lips and tugged against his hold. “You’re hurting me.”

Not physically. He wasn’t holding her tightly enough to do that, but he released her. She had a trapped, hunted air about her now and grim satisfaction curled through him. Oh, yeah, she was hiding something. If he could just find the weak point, break through that damn control of hers…

“I’d never hurt you and you know it.”

“Stop.” Her voice trembled and his chest tightened.

“Not until you—”

“Until nothing. We’re colleagues, Tick,” she said, cold dismissal not quite covering the lingering nervousness in her tone. “That’s all.”

“We used to be friends.”

And lovers. The words hung in the air, unsaid.

“Well, this looks cozy.”

Damn. Tick smothered a wave of frustrated anger. Cookie had the worst timing known to man. Tick straightened, making sure his expression was blank before he looked around at the other man. Cookie’s face was a study in smooth guilelessness that didn’t fool Tick for an instant.

Copyright © 2007 Linda Winfree
All rights reserved ~ a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication.

Link to book (and another, longer excerpt): http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/hold-on-to-me

Procrastination cures?

2007-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Procrastination cures?

I picked up a used Dana on Ebay a couple weeks ago. I was interested in an alternative writing source to my laptop for several reasons, but what made me finally decide to try out the Alphasmart was my recent bout with procrastination. I found myself avoiding the hard business of writing through the tough spots and knew I needed to make some changes. The Dana was only one of the many alterations I’m trying out, and I have to say, I love it.

A few reasons I wanted to try the Alphasmart:

~ My laptop is heavy. It’s actually one of the lighter models, but when you’re lifting it from the floor of a car or tugging it in and out of it’s case a dozen times a day (or more)…it really does get heavy.

~ My laptop has wireless internet. It also has other software. Way too easy to get distracted and find yourself 3 hours later thinking, oh, crap, I’ve got to pick the kids up from school already and I haven’t written anything new yet.

~ My laptop was taking a beating for the very same reasons stated in the first point.

~ I liked the thought of having a limited amount of material on the screen in hopes of keeping my auto-editing brain focused on creating.

Anyway…although I was skeptical about the value of the Alphasmart, it seems to work for me. I’m procrastinating less and writing more.

What works for you?

Real Romance Novel Heroes

2007-12-17T22:23:00.001-08:00

I've had a crazy day. So instead of boring you with chat about craft or business or my lack of progress on the wip, I thought I'd entertain you. Take a look at this clip about "real" romance heroes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JwT0Jn6wm3I

Fun Times: Linda's First Booksigning

2007-12-14T16:41:00.000-08:00

I don't believe the author learning curve ever ends. I'm editing book five, after the recent releases of book four in ebook and book one in print. Some of the learning curve is fun, though.

Like author appearances. Now, I'm a social animal at heart. I don't like crowds, but give me a gathering of likeminded people and I'm in heaven. You know, like people who want to buy my book . . . and have me sign it.

Now, let me preface this by saying I realize this first booksigning of mine was a fluke. I live in a relatively small town (okay, so small that almost everyone is a relative -- that kind of relatively small) and the release of this book generated huge buzz.

I sold sixty copies in a week, which included the forty-plus I signed during the two-hour booksigning.

(That's me handing Carol her copy.)

Anyway . . . this part of promo I could get used to: talking to people about my book. Everyone wants to know where your ideas come from and they're eager to read it . . . which leaves you wondering what they'll say if they don't like it!

(Luckily, everyone who's read it so far has loved it. I'm figuring the ones I haven't heard from . . . don't.)

Being "famous" in a small town? Oh, that's fun. Former students bring you flowers:

(That's me and Kyle -- he designed the floral display. I taught him for three years. Isn't he a sweetie? Yes, my eyes are closed.)

Then, there's having your #1 fan show up. (I get flashbacks to Stephen King when I say that, but I don't think she'll chop my foot off.)

(This is me and my mama, definitely my newest and #1 fan. I don't thinks she's read the book yet. She keeps selling her copies to people every time I sign one for her. I think she's my top marketing tool right now.)

And then all the relatives (e.g. my sisters and my niece) show up as well.

My niece loves books. I told her to pick out books for her birthday present while she was there.

I, by the way, am in trouble because the relatives (mom, sisters, niece) are not in the dedication in What Mattered Most. I will fix that before Truth and Consequences releases in April!

Overall, even with my glitches (I called an old acquaintance I'd not seen in ages by the wrong name and offended him, then got rattled and spelled someone's name wrong on the title page -- try fixing that!), it was a really great, very positive experience.

So, this part of the learning curve -- surviving my first author appearance -- I like.

Contest

2007-12-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am coming back with a "real" post later today. I promise. :-)

But first, go check out Kate's blog for a contest in which you could win a copy of your choice from my backlist.

Homicidal Holidays

2007-12-11T04:02:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! First of all, thanks to Joan and everyone here at Romance Worth Killing For for inviting me!

I'm CJ Lyons, and my first medical suspense novel, LIFELINES, will be released by Berkley in March, 2008. LIFELINES is unique because although it has been praised by Publisher's Weekly as a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller" it is told solely through the point of view of the women of Pittsburgh's Angels of Mercy's ER.

As a pediatric ER doc who has practiced in some of the country's busiest trauma centers, it was great fun bringing my experience to life with this behind-the-scenes drama of the most dangerous day of the year in a hospital.

I love talking with mystery/suspense authors because we can talk about the really important things in life: namely, the best ways to kill someone and get away with it.

So, given the winter holiday season, I thought I'd throw out a few ideas on Homicidal Holiday Hazards.

1. O Tantebaum—not only do they make for excellent firestarters (arson, anyone?) but think of the possibilities of actually obtaining one. Imagine: deserted tree farm, you and your victim far out of sight of anyone else, it's getting dark, and there you are with hatchet and saw in hand….or better yet, cutting down and hauling a live tree is a great time to induce a heart attack and given the holiday rush, it probably would go undetected as the medical examiner would be too busy to do more than a cursory examination.

2. Auld Lang Sang—do you have any idea how easy it is to slip poison into New Year's champagne or eggnog? The possibilities are endless: antifreeze in a sweet drink, an overdose of barbiturates or sedatives in an alcoholic one….

3. Dradle, Dradle—holidays with all that candy and cheating on diets make for a perfect time to induce a diabetic coma in those old folks with fat life insurance policies. Just swap out their "sugar" pills or insulin for a few days, ply them with some gelt or candy canes and pouf! There goes granny, here comes the inheritance!

4. Up on the Rooftop--Hmmm….climbing up rickety ladders, hammer and nails and aluminum gutters and electrical lights, snow and ice all around—anyone else seeing a great set up for "accidental" electrocutions or slip and falls???

5. Over the Hills—all that ice and snow (for those of you in northern climes) not to mention crazy, hectic drivers all rushing hither and yon make for a perfect recipe for disaster. Mix a slashed brake-line with faulty power steering, add a little too much holiday cheer and voila!

And then there's always the cold and hypothermia and all the possibilities the wilderness can offer us. But I'll save that for next month when we discuss Wilderness Survival—another perennial favorite worst-case-scenario!

In the meantime, what's your favorite Homicidal Holiday Hazard? C'mon, if you can't talk about it with your fellow suspense authors, who can you talk to?

I'd love to hear them!

CJ
cjlyons.net

PS: I feel honor-bound (the pediatric ER doc in me) to point out that the holidays actually do pose a very real risk, especially to children and pets. Clean up ALL remnants of alcohol after parties before you go to bed (kids tend to get up early and love sipping at all the left over drinks and it only takes a few swallows of alcohol to poison a little one) and please dress everyone warm, even for short trips. Always, always buckle up and have a designated driver! Happy--and safe--holidays to all!!

Drive vs. Want

2007-12-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

My RWA vice president and I are in the process of filling our '08 calendar with speakers for our local meetings. I'm of the mindset that a good speaker isn't simply one who fills a slot and takes up time but who has something worthwhile to present to our membership. This could be a writer, though often times it's not. In my experience, most writers don't make the best speakers - unless of course they were teachers at one time, or in a profession where they were often in front of crowds giving public speeches or lectures.

One of our themes for the coming year is remotivation. We have a lot of writers who are, what I think of as, hobbyists. They come to the meetings, they're good writers, they have great ideas, but something's holding them back, be it fear or doubt or worry that they might not be good at something they really love. They've heard writing speakers go on and on about craft, they know the mechanics of writing a good book, most can even take an idea and plot out an entire story that makes perfect sense. Yet they're not doing it. They write three or four chapters and then slack off, or life interferes and writing gets pushed to the wayside. They talk about what they really want and they attend workshops and conferences in the hope it will inspire them, yet it doesn't.

It seems to me there's a huge gap between this concept of want - what we say or think we want as writers - and that internal drive that pushes us to go after our goals. Why is it some people have the ability to push past everything in their way and focus on the end product until they're done? Is it possible to inspire someone to have that drive, or does it have to come from within?

We're in the process of trying to schedule a life coach to come in and talk to the group about setting realistic goals and sticking to them, but I thought I'd toss it out to our RWKF readers and see what you come up with. What keeps you motivated to write (or to do whatever else it is that is your passion)? What inspires you? And most importantly, what is it that drives you, and was there ever a time when you were willing to give up on your dreams? What pushed you forward?

How Do I Forget to Blog?

2007-12-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

Let me count the ways . . .

1) I somehow lose an entire week in some weird timewarp

2) A Christmas party. I did win an awesome windbreaker with our school logo.

3) 90 literary analysis essays to grade

4) A graduate paper that I waited until the day before to write (I made an A, though. I'd done the reading . . . just not the writing)

5) Complete revisions on the March release, that I'd been working on for a month, but saved the last two chapters to do the same day my graduate paper was due. Obviously, I like being insane.

6) A booksigning. The same weekend my revisions and my grad paper were due. Lots of fun, lots of socializing, lots of sales.

Again, weird timewarp. Lost the entire WEEK. Not sure where it went.

Really hope I didn't forget anything beside blogging . . .

Monsters of Chaos

2007-12-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

I'm a forward movement kind of person. A go-out-there-and-get-it-done type. So slowing down to reflect or regroup amps my stress levels.

I decided not to plot out my current WIP. I had a couple of scenes churning in my brain for a while, let them bubble to the surface until they were about to boil over and then started writing. Works great--for those scenes. Then I sit back and wonder...what now?

I've learned--the hard way--that is way too stressful for me. I need to know where I'm going. Even if I veer from the path along the way, I need to have a path set out before me when I start. That's not to say I need to know every nuance, every thread. My characters don't develop into someone I identify with until I'm about 1/2 way through the first draft. My plots sprout subplots along the story journey. Theme grows with each layer of detail, with each weaving of internal and external conflict, with the upward and downward slope of character arcs.

So...here I am, 210 pages into this WIP and my pantster britches have finally fallen off. I need to regroup, rethink and plan. Man, I hate that. Not the planning part, but the stepping back part, the slug of forward motion part. Makes me grind my teeth at night and wake up with a popping jaw. And after going over the ms from the beginning and looking at everything happening in each scene, I realized my work is just too complex and intricate to work without a net.

As if to conspire against my attempted writing freedom, the universe is sending messages.

I watched part of a KCET (channel 9) seminar the other day: Change your thinking, change your life. Happened to turn to it at the point where the doctor/instructor was talking about accepting your location in life, realizing it is where you're meant to be. My creativity coach, a psychologist who is tutoring me along for free via one of Eric Maisel's coaching programs, encourages me to embrace my conflicts and work with them, not against them. Today, in my email, I received this message from the author of Blockbuster Plots, a woman I recently took a plotting course with via Silicon Valley RWA:

Winter solstice, December 21st, is the shortest day of the year.

Celebrated among the ancients as a turning point -- this day, when sunrise and sunset is at a minimum for the year, marks the return of the sun. The Mesopotamians were first with a 12-day festival of renewal, designed to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for one more year.

I hope during the season you might find time to use candles, evergreens, feasting and generosity as a way to tame the monsters of chaos for 2008.

This is also a good time until January 30, 2008 to withdraw and regroup, examine and rework the way you express, experience, and integrate new information in your life.

This is a time of magic.

I'm listening, I'm listening! I'm backing up, slowing down and developing a plot for my complex WIP. I'm taming my monsters of chaos.

What monsters are you taming for 2008?

New feature: Fiction First Aid

2007-12-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

The first Tuesday of each month (well, except for this month :-)), CJ Lyons, Berkeley published author and pediatric emergency physician, will guest blog. CJ will cover topics from medicine to craft to publishing.

Next Tuesday: Holiday Homicides.

Stop by for some “killer” ideas and ask CJ your medical or writing-related questions.

Introspection

2007-12-03T09:13:00.001-08:00

I recently finished a debut work by a (now) well-known romance author. Granted, this book is about four years old and the writer has gone on to publish several novels since then, but I often enjoy looking at an author's first published work to see how they change and grow through those early books. Normally, writing style, voice and sentence structure are things I see change dramatically from books one to three, but in this case, the element that stuck out to me most about this particular author's work was introspection. There was a loooot of head time in this book. Pages and pages of the main character thinking through what she would do next, what had just happened, etc. Both characters (hero and heroine) were guilty of this, but much more so in the heroine's head. So bad so, there were times where I found myself thinking, "Okay, get on with it. We've been-there, done-that several times already."

I like introspection. I like to know what a character is thinking and feeling, but there are moments where it gets to be too much. If a reader is tempted to put a book down because the character is rehashing an emotion or thought they've already shredded to death, it's time to do some cutting. Introspection is one of those things that seriously slows pacing in a novel, along with description and backstory. When done well, it enhances a novel and brings the reader right into the character's head. When overdone, it pops you so far out of the book, you may have trouble picking it up again.

It's interesting to compare how authors handle introspection. The book I recently started reading has almost no introspection. I just blew through the scene where the hero and heroine met and it was so dialogue heavy and so non-introspective, I only had a glimmer of insight into what each of the characters were thinking. The scene moved fast. Almost too fast in my opinion. I would have liked for the author to slow it down a little with a thought here and there. The heroine admits she's not afraid of those spooky woods where people have been murdered? Doesn't the hero have an internal reaction to that revelation?

Balance is key in my opinion. I once had a critique partner who loved to add in "Okay, so what's he thinking or feeling here?" all over my chapters. Back then I used very little introspection, and her comments were warranted and made my work better. But on the flip side, my agent recently read a proposal I put together and her reaction was, "I love it. Now cut some of the head time." I - obviously - have gone from one extreme to the other. When I edit now, one of the first things I look for are introspection paragraphs or sections that don't need to be there. Did I already say that somewhere else? Am I beating the reader over the head with the same emotion? And sometimes (though rarely), do I need to elaborate a little more here? Because introspection is one of those things I know I need to be mindful of, it's something I notice in others' works. And too much introspection is the first thing that makes me dislike a character, because too often, too much introspection tends to make a character come off as whiny.

Would you consider yourself a mild, medium or heavy introspection writer? And when you read, is introspection something that pops out at you - too much, not enough, etc? Can you think of any writers who handle introspection particularly well?

Now in Print: WHAT MATTERED MOST

2007-11-30T11:53:00.002-08:00

A man in the worst place he can be—between two women—and forced to choose which one lives or dies

What Mattered Most by Linda Winfree

Houston homicide detective John O'Reilly is torn between two women. One is the woman he's loved without hope for years. The other carries his unborn child. Now, a man bent on revenge wants O'Reilly to choose, and any choice he makes could cost him everything.

Gutsy sheriff’s deputy Lanie Falconetti is determined not to repeat her mother’s mistakes in love. Her no-strings attached affair with John O’Reilly leads to an unexpected, but joyfully welcomed pregnancy. However, the shadow from John’s past threatens not only her chance at happiness, but her life and that of her unborn baby as well.

***

John swam in a thick grayness, somewhere between light and dark. His body felt as though he should be in pain, but the sensation hovered just out of reach. The cold was real, and shivers racked him.
“John?” A lyrical voice soothed over his nerves, warm fingers stroking his jaw. He turned toward the warmth. Lips brushed his. “I love you.”
He struggled to open his eyes. “Beth?”
Warm fingers linked through his. “No, it’s me.”
Weighted lids lifted, and the grayness receded in the piercing fluorescent light. He recoiled then focused on the face above him. Warmth and peace trickled through him. “Lanie.”
“I wondered if you were ever going to wake up.” She blinked, tears sparkling on her long, dark lashes. What had happened to bring that look of strain to her face? Her fingers danced over his jaw again. “I love you, O’Reilly.”
Remembrance flooded his mind – Beth’s screams, Mitchell’s curses, the bullet burning his shoulder. He struggled to sit up, and the lurking pain tore through his chest. “Beth. Oh, my God, Beth. Got to find her-”
Lanie’s hands pushed at his arms. “Stop. You can’t-”
He thrust her away, his arms heavy and uncoordinated, agony shooting through him with each movement. He ignored it. “Damn it, I’ve got to find Beth.”
“Everyone’s looking for her ... John, you’re going to pull out your-”
A sharp stinging tore through his hand, and he stared at the blood spurting from his skin, the intravenous line lying useless on the bed now. He shoved to a sitting position, his head swimming.
“Oh, hell.” Lanie tried to push him back again, reaching for the call button at the same time.
“He’ll kill her. I’ve got to find her.”
“John. Stop it.” Lanie took his face in her hands, her hazel gaze holding his. He stilled, breathing hard, impatience and terror pounding under his skin. “The FBI is here. The Texas Rangers, too. They’ve sealed off the county, and a door-to-door search is underway. They’re going to find Beth and Nicole. I promise.”
Screams and blood filled his mind again. He pulled her hands away, blood dripping down his forearm, and shook his head, trying to clear the dizzy fuzziness. “You don’t understand. She needs me.”
“I do understand. And you can help her best by getting better.” Lanie’s soothing tone grated against his ears.
“You don’t understand.” He snarled the words at her, and she stepped back, a startled expression crossing her face. “You can’t.”
A nurse materialized at his bedside. She exchanged a glance with Lanie. “Mr. O’Reilly? Lie back and let me put your IV line back in.”
Nausea and panic clawed in his throat. “No. I don’t need it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“John.” Lanie’s voice slipped from soothing to authoritative, the tone he knew she used with recalcitrant suspects. “You are not leaving that bed. Now, you can either let her put the line back in, or we can strap you to the bed and then she can put it back in.”
He glared at her, almost hating her for standing between him and Beth’s safety. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Her golden eyes narrowed. “Try me. Steve’s on the other side of that door, and I know he has his cuffs with him.”
With a growled curse, he subsided and allowed the nurse to replace the line. His gaze remained locked on Lanie’s throughout the procedure, although dizziness attacked him again. When the needle was in place again, Lanie smiled grimly. “Now. What did you mean, he’ll kill her? Who is he?”
Agitation crawled along his nerves. “Doug Mitchell. Beth’s ex-husband.”
Startled confusion settled on her face. “I thought-”
“I need to get the hell out of here.”
“You need to rest. If you’ll be a good boy, I’ll go see if there’s any news, okay?”
The brief struggle had exhausted him. The gray depths pulled at him, and he fought the sucking heaviness. He had to stay awake, had to help Beth. He had to-
“Rest.” Lanie’s whisper and her gentle touch washed over him once more. “I’ll be right back.”
The gray rushed in on him, and awareness vanished.

Link to book.

Excerpt: Perfectly Good Nanny by Paty Jager

2007-11-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

Brock Hughes is a man juggling a mortgaged ranch, a preteen daughter, and a toddler. He’s lost two wives, one to a tragic accident and the other to the bright lights of the city. That’s the trouble with women. Sooner or later, by design or by fate, they leave a man high and dry. He doesn't want another one for his family--especially in the form of a beautiful nanny he didn't hire.

Carina Valencia arrives on Brock’s doorstep determined to pull her life back together. As far as she's concerned, it doesn't matter who hired her. These children are clearly in need of a woman’s touch and she’ll not let another child down.

******

“You have no right to come here and criticize how I raise my children.” Brock took three long strides toward Carina. “Do they look abused or neglected to you?” Towering over her, he glared at her upturned face. How dare she question him?

She didn’t back away or down.

“Your daughter ordering a nanny screams of neglect to me,” Carina retorted with steel in her voice.

Her reaction puzzled him.

“She had help.” He did feel remorse his daughter knew what she needed and he didn’t.

“But you knew nothing about it.” Carina threw her hands in the air, turned away then swung back around. “If you supervised your children as you say you do, she wouldn’t have been able to arrange for a nanny and have one arrive without your knowledge.”

She was right, but he’d never admit it. He was a bad excuse for a father, but he loved the land and his children and was torn between the two. They both needed him.

Brock rubbed a hand over his face and backed away from the woman who made him see himself in an unfavorable light. “I know,” he mumbled.

“You know what?” she stepped close. He could smell her perfume and the scent of baby powder.

"I know I’m not around enough, but they also need fed and clothed and this god-forsaken land is what puts food on the table and clothes on their backs.”

“But they need you, too.” Her face softened. “Physical contact is just as important as food and shelter.” She reached out, rubbing his arm. “You’re a wonderful father when you’re with the children. And I’ve no doubt Maddie had a terrific time with you today.”

The energy her touch set off frightened him. God help him. Between the zing of her touch and the passion in her words, his body overruled his good sense.

Grasping her shoulders, he pulled her against his chest, breathing in her sensual scent. It felt good to hold a woman again. Especially, one who’d just given him such high praise, even if it was after raking him up one side and down the other.

When she didn’t pull from his embrace, he slid his hand down her back, forgetting all the reasons he’d built to stay away from a woman.

******

Paty Jager lives with her husband of twenty-eight years and a menagerie of farm animals. Her four children are grown and leading their own lives and providing grandchildren to spoil.She has been a freelance reporter for local newspapers and a 4-H program assistant over the years as she honed her writing. Nearly ten years ago she joined RWA (Romance Writers of America). After eight years of attending many conferences, workshops, and being a finalist in eight contests, she broke into the publishing industry with a new, small e-book and POD publisher, The Wild Rose Press.

Soon to be the ex-president of the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter in Salem, Oregon, she is also a member of the Hearts Through History RWA online chapter, and a member of the Redmond Writers group. She credits the RWA organization for helping her work on her craft to become a published author and giving her the contacts necessary to build her career. Two western romance historical books were published in 2006. Marshal in Petticoats and Gambling on an Angel. Her third romance novel, Perfectly Good Nanny, a contemporary western romance, is available in both print and e-book. The second book of the Petticoat series, Outlaw in Petticoats, will be available in print May 2008.

To View Paty's website and buy her books visit http://www.patyjager.com/

Gifts for Writers

2007-11-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging a bit late to give Charlotte's post a bit more "face" time. So great of her to stop by. Thanks, Charlotte!

I'm rather wound up in Christmas shopping. Normally, I'm stressing at the last minute. For whatever reason, I'm more on the ball this year and it feels so much better. I'm also going simple--one largish present instead of a hundred little ones. And conservative--thoughtful, but not overboard. I have to say...it's nice. I'm enjoying the season a lot more, stressing a lot less and generally feeling happier.

I'm still debating over what to get the members of my RWA chapter board. Flip flopping between a few ideas, which had me surfing around the Internet looking for good gift ideas for writers. They seem to come in three categories: intangible, big or little. I kinda wanted something different, but thought it would be good to list the various ideas I found and hopefully have you all add to them.

Time, space and support--of course every writer needs those things, but how do you "give" those? I think a coupon book would be a great way--homemade coupons for "Ready to cook lasagna for the family" in lieu of "time"; "Two hours of organization" in lieu of "space"; "Three brainstorming sessions at Starbucks" in lieu of support. You could get really fun and creative with a coupon booklet. Unfortunately, none of my writing friends live close enough for me to use this one. :-(
Pens, pencils, notebooks--these are ... okay, but I probably wouldn't use them. I've got pads and writing utensils all over the dang house. Maybe a special journal. Better yet, a journal with guided writing prompts or self-discovery techniques you've put in yourself. Or a journal that accompanies a book such as Simple Abundance or one of Eric Maisel's creativity books or any other of the enlightening works out there.
Books--of course, this one is rather obvious. But maybe look at it from a little different angle--the newest release of a best selling author from the writer's genre, the newest release from one of their favorite authors, a craft book related to that genre, or something that writer has been struggling with.
Gift certificates--no, not necessarily to B&N, although I'm sure lots of writers would like that too, but maybe for an online class or workshop. Be creative!

Lots of other suggestions come to mind:

Computer software

Flypen (this is what I've asked for)

Alphasmart (looking into this too)

Scrapbook of story ideas collected from newspapers and magazines
iPod

iTunes

Inspirational notes or signs

Calendar

Magazine subscription

Online subscription (i.e. autocrit, Publishers Weekly, etc.)

Bookclub subscription (i.e. Writer's Digest)

Netflix subscription (they've got great documentaries, too)

Okay, I'm dry. Help me out here -- what are your ideas for great writer gifts?

Guest Blogger: Charlotte Cook, Komenar Publishing

2007-11-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

WRITER RAGE—OR FIFTEEN WAYS BY WHICH TO BECOME DEEPLY APPRECIATED INSTEAD

Yikes! I understand the frustrations of this industry. I'm a writer, editor, teacher, and publisher ... along with being the spouse of an independent book seller and friend to many others in and across this industry. And I don't know why anyone would want to rage at people who might help a writer achieve his/her ambitions and achieve them successfully.

Authors Raging at Booksellers

Story One: An author with a published book in hand stands at the cashier station in a bookstore shouting at the lone bookseller there. "Why won't you carry my book?" the author asks and repeats while a customer stands nearby, hesitant to approach to make a purchase.

Story Two: An author writes an "anonymous" letter to a bookseller criticizing the bookseller for taking a call from a customer, then putting the author on "hold" to take an order from the customer on the telephone rather than discuss taking the author's book.

Story Three: An author follows around an events coordinator at a bookstore where the author is to have an event. The author repeats, "You haven't enough books on hand. Thirty won't do it. This is a great book. Everyone who comes will want to buy the book." The bookseller says that they rarely get turnouts above thirty people. The author counters with: "You don't know that. You can't tell the future. And my book is special."

Writers Raging at Publishers

Story One: A writer emails a publisher that the publisher's guidelines are "stupid" and the publisher is "just on a power trip." Writer and publisher have had no previous contact.

Story Two: A writer calls, then emails, a publisher: "My book will make you a million dollars. Why aren't you smart enough to see that?"

Story Three: A writer is asked to do a bit of rewriting. The writer responds with: "Clearly you have never read any Faulkner," refuses to do any rewriting, and closes with "you don't know literature."

An unfortunate story all around:
A writer confronts a publisher at a trade show: "You rejected my book but I got it published anyway. HAH!" The publisher points out that the book was rejected because the publisher doesn't take books in that genre. The writer turns very red, mutters something and stomps away.

I just found out that there are websites with stories about writers behaving badly. I'd think that no one would want to find a posting about their behavior there. But a writer on another site emails: "We have every right to behave as we do. You publishers and editors and agents just don't get it."

Well, yes, we do "get it." We are the recipients of the behavior and we do understand the catalyst for the behavior. But, if your emotions can't be managed in the earliest stages of relationship building, why should it be our problem? No behavior that is anti-social, unprofessional and/or intense can be rationalized away here in this industry. And why should it be? None of these people would be allowed such behavior elsewhere, in other industries, with other professionals. No behavior of that kind makes any of us want to work with such a person long term. And that's what this business is ... long term.

From submission to second printing, especially in the mid-size and smaller houses ... and with any bookseller ... bad behavior just can't be tolerated. We have no time, no staff, no added resources, no money and often insufficient resilience to cope with behavior that demoralizes or offends. I have actually witnessed writers exploding with expletives at receptionists, editors, booksellers, designers, and others. And I know people who have changed jobs and companies as a result. Good talent going away. Everyone loses.

So, just to avoid to catalyzing any raging emails to me, let me give you some ideas about how to become deeply appreciated in this world:

1. Make friends of everyone. You never know who is within earshot or who knows whom. (The woman behind you at the airlines counter is a producer for Oprah. The quiet customer waiting to buy book had been holding one by you.)

2. Take advice. If an agent says do this or that, if an editor says do this or that, if a publisher says do this or that ... do it with great energy and attitude.

3. Or, ask for clarification. But ...

4. Don't argue. Never argue.

5. Negotiate or question but never with attitude, or ...

6. Say thanks and walk away. Work to get along or to get away.

7. Always say please, thank you, and you're welcome. (Don't say "no problem.")

8. Remember that nothing happens in this industry quickly. If you want an update on your submission, the status of production ...

9. Send polite emails, or ...

10. Call, asking first if the speaker has time to talk, then be brief and polite.

11. Consider that sales are essential to success. Publishers and booksellers have to sell books to buy more books. And stocking large quantities creates costly returns, not more sales.

12. Learn about the challenges each and everyone has in this industry.

13. Be agreeable and articulate.

14. Make friends of everyone.

15. Make friends.

I have had the best fortune in making friends in this industry. Most everyone I deal with is a friend in one manner or another. I am always grateful for their time and commitment. Many have helped us in very particular and important ways. I remind myself all the time that making a successful book is a team effort and I am always on a learning curve.

So, what more can I write? All I want you to know is that to succeed you make friends. Make friends of some really wonderful people. And I hope that's what you do.

A Couple of New, Different Firsts

2007-11-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a wild couple of weeks. I've started graduate school on top of teaching, parenting and writing, so I've been really focused on keeping my head above water. Anyone who knows me can tell you having a conversation with me lately is an interesting experience -- I'm focused, as I said, on keeping everything going, so my ability to converse is less than focused. ;-)

But, I did manage to hold myself together for two recent (and pretty darn cool) author firsts . . .

1) I signed my first copy of one of my books. It's actually a pretty neat story. I'd gone in the local bookstore because Leigh, the owner, had emailed to tell me What Mattered Most had been delivered (early, I might add!). I'd had to take Monster #2 for a checkup and while we waited for his prescriptions, we went for a coffee and a slice of Patsy's decadent chocolate cake. Afterwards, we walked next door so I could pick up a copy of Bobby Dews's book, which he was scheduled to be signing that evening. I knew I'd miss his signing.

While I was purchasing his book and talking with Leigh, in walks Mr. Dews! He was early. So we chatted about his book and Leigh mentioned I was her next booksigning. He asked to see a copy of my book and ended up buying it right there then asked me to sign it. Overall, it was a great experience -- and he was so interesting to talk to. I can't put his book down, either. He's Southern and dark and realistic. I like that.

2) I survived my first newspaper interview. I'll be featured in two local newspapers this upcoming week -- my hometown paper and the larger metro newspaper near us. Wednesday, the reporter from the metro newspaper called to conduct the interview via phone. She was really nice, asked great questions, and overall it was a fantastic experience. I'm hoping that feature comes out well. The photographer is coming out Monday to take the photo -- that makes me nervous because I am less than photogenic, y'all! There should be an online link once the article runs and I'll post that here when it does.

I'm looking forward to another first -- my first booksigning on Saturday, December 1. If you're in the south Georgia, north Florida area, drop by The Bookstore in Camilla between 10:00 and 12:00. I'd love to see you!

Y'all have a great weekend. I'm off to recover from eating too much of Mama's famous thirteen-layer chocolate cake . . .

Gratitude as a Tranforming Life Force

2007-11-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

Most of you will recall the blockbuster book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Oprah rocketed the book and the author through the atmosphere several years ago. This was my first introduction to the concept of gratitude as an adult. As a child, I was drilled with the concept of gratitude via Catholicism, but…I was a kid. Kids never listen.

My personal practice of gratitude has brought me comfort and perspective in the most stressful times in life. But instead of torturing you with my “take” on the concept, I’ll gift you with the words of those far more knowledgeable and poetic.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie

Paraphrased from Day 14, Simple Abundance, regarding the Gratitude Journal:

After consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life, you simply will not be the same person. You set into motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.

As you recognize and give thanks for the gifts in your life, and inner shift in your reality will occur. Soon your will be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. As you focus on the abundance rather than the lack in your life, you will be designing a wonderful new blueprint for the future. This sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work, transforming your dreams into reality.

A French proverb reminds us that “Gratitude is the heart’s memory.” Begin to explore and integrate this beautiful, life-affirming principle into your life, and the miracle you have been seeking will unfold to your wonder and amazement. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Do you employ gratitude in your everyday life? Can you share the benefits or transformations you’ve experienced because of it?

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday.

Characters

2007-11-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Lin's been talking a lot about characters. We all know strong characters make or break a book. Plot is essential in driving a story forward, but good characters are what keep the reader thinking about the book long after the story is over.

So what's in your perfect hero? How about your perfect heroine?

My perfect hero is a little bit cocky. He doesn't know exactly what he wants at the beginning of the book. He may think there's not much wrong with him personally even though his life might be way out of whack. He's been around the block a time or two. He's probably done things he's not proud of. He could be a hundred different things on the outside - cowboy, cop, business man, warrior, soldier, thief - but on the inside he's a man of principle. He knows what's important to him and he has a strong personal code of ethics he strives to keep in balance. He loves his mother (a given), family is important to him even if he doesn't admit it outright, and he knows there's more to a woman than simply a pretty face (and body). And, oh, yeah, he has to have a sense of humor, must like football and baseball, and always holds the door open for a woman.

When he meets the heroine, he's knocked on his ass. He may fight it. He may tell himself (and the world) she's the wrong woman for him, but the reader will know he's toast from day one. When he finally figures it out, there's not a single thing in the world that would keep him from the woman he loves.

My perfect heroine is feisty. She's a fighter, a rebel, an independent woman. She, too, has been around the block. Maybe not sexually (then, again, maybe sexually too), but she's experienced the highs and lows of life. She's not green. She doesn't have sappy visions of the man who will sweep her off her feet. She knows - at this point in her life - she's not willing to sacrifice who she has become just to have a man by her side. Wanting one is totally up to her.

She, too, has a good sense of humor. She likes sports, isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, and can just as easily hang with the guys on a Saturday afternoon as she can get gussied up and go out on the town.

When she meets her perfect hero, he'll probably irritate her. A strong woman doesn't like to meet her match. She'll most likely deny her feelings (just like my hero), but because she's a woman, she knows when she's fighting a losing battle. Even if she doesn't tell him, and even if she knows their relationship is doomed, she'll keep what she feels to herself until the last possible second. But when she discovers the man who truly loves her for who she is, there's nothing she wouldn't do for him.

What's in your perfect hero and heroine? Have you ever come across a book that had the "perfect" main characters?

Characters, Once Again

2007-11-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

Picture a classroom, decorated in lots of red, white and blue befitting an American Lit class, full of inquisitive, talkative teenagers hyped up on Halloween candy. For once, they've all done the required reading (Scary -- that might be the first sign of the Apocalypse). We're thirty chapters into Kate Chopin's The Awakening, and they're excited about the developing story.

The conversation veers into making connections between this novel and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which they finished earlier in October.

"Oh! So Edna and Robert are kinda like Gatsby and Daisy!" Brittany says. "They're in love, but they can't be together because both Daisy and Edna are already married."

Sara brightens as she leans forward, eager to talk. "Yeah, and both of them are unhappy in their marriages."

Colby looks up and I know I'm in trouble. I love this kid -- he's smart and funny and likes to participate -- but when he gets that little frown between his brows . . . oh, man.

"Ms. Winfree, what's up with all these books with adultery in them?"

See? Told you I was in trouble. All twenty-two pairs of eyes swing to me. At this point, they are convinced every novel in four hundred years of American writing revolves around some adulterous situation. They're wrong, of course, but somehow I inadvertently picked an entire semester's worth of major works that do involve some aspect of that particular issue.

What I point out to my students is that in all of the works in this series (The Great Gatsby, The Awakening, The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible), adultery is not the central conflict or event. In all of them, it serves as a tool for the author to build a character, to create or enhance a main conflict, to explore a theme. Fitzgerald uses Nick Carraway's rather unreliable point of view to gloss over Gatsby and Daisy's illicit liasons. Chopin's exploration of Edna's sexual and individual awakening has the character's destruction hinging on her emotional affair rather than her physical affair. Hawthorne and Miller both have their characters suffering consequences of their actions, but with different outcomes: Hester must own up to her affair and Hawthorne uses the Puritan's treatment of her to indict their own hypocrisy; Miller's John Proctor keeps his adultery quiet too long and loses everything because of it.

So . . . four authors, one taboo, four great reads.

Four books in which the reader is induced to basically overlook the adultery for the other major ideas. I don’t have a problem with Gatsby and Daisy having an affair. I understand why Edna makes the choices she does. I get John Proctor’s straying. Same for Hester Prynne.

But.

In my office is another book, the second by an author whose first book I adored. I've had this book over a year. I can’t finish it. Can’t get past chapter four or five. Because the protagonist is about to embark on an adulterous relationship and I can’t stand it. I think she’s stupid and ungrateful. I can’t read this book.

Different author. Same taboo. A really cruddy read, for me anyway.

Why? Again, it’s the character. If she were different, maybe it would work. But because her motivations seem weak, her character comes off as weak.

As Bonnie pointed out to us earlier this week, it’s all about the characters.

Excerpt: Night Song by Sharon Cullen

2007-11-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

Night Song

He’s a centuries old vampire who doesn’t do domestication. She’s a single mother struggling to survive. Evil brings them together, but will their love be enough to keep them alive?

******

Aiden hadn’t lied. He had been walking in the woods. What he didn’t tell her was that he timed his walk to coincide with her nightly ritual of sitting on the deck with her glass of wine. She’d been late tonight and he’d almost given up, but his patience had been rewarded when the sliding door opened and she stepped through.

He’d been more than stunned to see the shimmer of tears on her cheeks and could no more have stayed away than deny his insatiable hunger for blood. He had to know what was wrong, what made her sad.

But she was reluctant to talk and her mortification was apparent, so he let it go for the time being. That thought alone should have been enough to send him running for the hills. She was human and she was a mother on top of it. A bad combination in his book. But this woman was different and that both drew him to her and made him step back.

It was insane to get to know her.

Yet he couldn’t stay away even if he wanted—and at the moment he didn’t want.

She left the deck to get his wine. He followed and stood just outside the sliding glass door, surveying her kitchen. It was everything his home was not. Lydia’s drawings covered the front of the refrigerator held there with big, colorful magnets. An overlarge calendar was taped up, each day marked with different colored pens. Papers had been pushed off to the side of the kitchen table. Cooling loaves of bread littered the small space. Aiden took a deep breath and held it. Lemon bread, if he wasn’t mistaken.

He rarely ate food, and only then to appease the human he was with, but the scents coming from Amy’s kitchen made his stomach grumble. His gaze went to her as she bustled around the cluttered kitchen. Just like the other night, he wanted to step inside and just be with her. But, as a vampire, he wasn’t allowed inside unless invited.

Amy shot him a warm look over her shoulder as she pulled more loaves from the oven. “Come in,” she said with a smile. “Sorry about the mess.”

He stepped inside, savoring the smell of warm lemon bread, entranced at the sight of her rear end bent over the open oven door. His breath caught in his lungs and he stepped even closer. She closed the door and opened the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of wine.

“It’s so hard to keep the kitchen clean,” she said. “Seems every time I straighten it up, it’s a mess again.”

She chuckled and turned around, then gasped when she knocked into him. Wine splashed out of the glass and splattered her hand.

“Oh.” Her face turned red. “Sorry.”

He took the glass in one hand and her fingers in his other. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kept his gaze trained on her wide, amber eyes. Slowly he sucked the sweet liquid from her fingers and palm, running his tongue along her palm. He closed his eyes, biting back a groan at the salty-sweet taste of her skin. He skimmed his fangs across her palm and she inhaled. His gaze flew to hers where a desire mixed with trepidation and a longing that nearly matched his shone back.

Quickly, before he lost control, he let go of her hand. She held it to her body, cradling it close to her breast. Aiden licked his lips, wanting more. Wanting it all. He took a step back and sipped his wine, studying the rise and fall of her breasts, hearing the small little pants that escaped from between her lips. He could smell the heat rising from her body, the woman scent that had him rock hard.

Not tonight. If he were smart, not ever. But sometimes his intelligence took a back seat to other, baser instincts, and he had no doubt this would be one of those times.

She wanted him. He could see it in her eyes and in the way she leaned toward him. But she also didn’t want him. That was in her eyes as well, evidenced by the confusion. He placed his glass on the kitchen table and took a step in her direction. She held her ground but her eyes grew wider and the pulse in her carotid picked up speed. Keeping his mouth shut, he licked his incisors, nearly tasting her warm, sweet blood. Would it taste like she smelled? Vanilla and flowers? God, he wanted to know.

He reached her in another step and stood so close her warm breath heated him through his shirt. With slow movements, he lifted his hand and caressed her neck. There. Right there he could kiss her, feel her pulse, know that her blood flowed through her. His mouth watered. She licked her lips and he groaned, bending his head and taking her mouth with his, licking the line where her upper lip clamped over her lower, asking for entry.

She opened and he dove in, tasting her, testing her. He was a master at kissing while hiding his elongated and very sharp fangs. His hands cupped the sides of her face. Tentatively, slowly, she raised her hands and placed them on his waist. Her fingers stroked little circles, making his skin tingle where she touched him.

“Mama?”

With a gasp, Amy pushed away, staring at him with wide eyes, her lips rosy and soft. She swiped a hand across her mouth and tore her gaze from his. With a muttered curse, Aiden ran a shaky hand through his hair.

“Lydia, what are you doing up?” Amy asked her daughter.

“Why are you kissing the boogey-man?”

**********

BIO: After reading Black Beauty when she was ten, Sharon had two dreams—to own a horse and to write books. She still doesn’t have the horse, but she does write. Nowadays she divides her time between the every day duties of a mom with three busy kids, a husband, a Labrador Retriever who occasionally makes an appearance in her stories, and writing.

Contact Sharon at sharon@sharoncullen.net

Visit Sharon’s website at http://www.sharoncullen.net/

Character Driven Fiction

2007-11-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our guest blogger: Bonnie Hearn Hill

Author, teacher and public speaker Bonnie Hearn Hill worked as a newspaper editor for 22 years, a job that, along with her natural nosiness, increased her interest in contemporary culture. Her 2003 novel, Intern was called “a page-turner” by Publishers Weekly. Killer Body (February 2004), a thriller about our weight-obsessed culture, was a Cosmopolitan magazine “pick.” In September 2006, Bonnie’s series of newspaper thrillers from MIRA Books featuring hearing-impaired reporter Geri LaRue, debuted. She has also written nonfiction, including a co-authored book on the Scott Peterson murder trial and articles for Publishers Weekly, Writer’s Digest and The Writer magazines.

A national conference speaker, contest judge and co-founder/faculty member for the Yosemite Writers Conference, Bonnie leads a very successful writers' workshop in Fresno. She is proud to have mentored some of the San Joaquin Valley’s most successful authors, including Hazel Dixon-Cooper, now the Cosmopolitan magazine Bedside Astrologer, mystery novelist Sheree Petree, Woman’s Day magazine essayist Wendy Revell, cowboy poet Bob Brown (Story Line Press), Hackney Literary Award winner Gary Hill (no relation), humor writer (Redneck Haiku, Santa Monica Press) Mary Witte and multi-published quilting pioneer Jean Ray Laury.
If you visit her Web site, http://www.bonniehearnhill.com/, you can see a photograph of Parker (adopted in Sacramento on a 2004 book tour), one of her three wonderful cats.

We are thrilled to have her here today to discuss character-driven fiction.

***

Let the characters drive it

Almost every time a writer I mentor tells me that she has a plot problem, I discover that the problem is really not plot but character. We all know that the right character can sell your book, and that a ho-hum character can ruin the best plot.

When I speak at conferences, I’m often approached by a beginning writer who believes she has a great idea for a story.

“So this woman from Earth marries a Martian. What do you think?”

The problem is – when I start asking about this Martian-marrying woman, I realize that the author doesn’t know anything about her – how she looks, her past history, not even her birthday.

When you decide to write a book, you might try asking yourself these two questions. 1. Whose story is this? 2. What does this person want? (external plot)

Character-driven fiction can be reduced (but is not limited) to a basic formula: C+C=C. Character plus Conflict equals Change.

Take a character and put him or her into conflict, and what happens? Just like real life, the character changes, whether or not he or she realizes it.

The external conflict is the second C. The internal conflict is the hole in the character’s life. We all have a hole in our lives, a tragedy, a regret, a guilt that still gnaws at us. Your character should have one too.

Getting to know them

In addition to my Writer’s Digest and Authorlink online classes, I lead a Tuesday night workshop in Fresno, and a small critique group (The Fridays) that meets in my home. My good friend Hazel Dixon-Cooper, the Cosmopolitan magazine Bedside Astrologer, always has the same question when one of us introduces a new character. “What is her sign?” And if we don’t know, Hazel will grill us about our characters, right down to body type and hairstyle. I use her nonfiction book, Born on A Rotten Day to give me character insights from an astrological perspective.

The late Jack Bickham said that he actually interviewed his characters. He’d sit in one chair as Jack, ask the question, then move to the other chair to answer it as the character. I tell you this if only so you won’t think that what I’m going to confess next is weird.

I have my characters write letters to me. “Dear Bonnie, My name is...and I was born...” Usually by the third page, the character says something like, “My problem now is...” These letters help me hear the character’s voice. I learn back story and information that doesn’t need to go into the book verbatim but is essential to my story.

People in real life have secrets. What’s yours? What’s your character’s? I try to make sure that most of my characters have secrets, and because I write thrillers, I try to give most of the main characters a motive for whatever crime has taken place. Both secrets and motives show up in character letters.

Character traits

What traits should your protagonist have in order to engage your reader’s heart? SJ Rozan’s Bill Smith drinks, smokes, and lives above a bar. He’s a private investigator who’s lost a daughter. He broods. Somehow, he’s very sexy. Jonathan Lethem’s protagonist in Motherless Brooklyn has Tourette’s, spews obscenities and is on a quest to find the killer of the small-time hoodlum who adopted him. Totally engaging. I was in love by the end of the first paragraph. How can you create characters who will grab a reader in a similar fashion?

Although you can come up with any number of character traits, I believe your protagonist must have two important characteristics in addition to the ones you choose.

S/he should be:

Sympathetic. Flawed, vulnerable characters are more appealing than perfect ones. This is where the hole in the life comes in.

Proactive. No one roots for a victim. The protagonist must protag.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions on character-driven fiction.

Epilogues

2007-11-12T15:16:00.001-08:00

First off, today is Veteran's Day. If you are a veteran, from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you for the sacrifices you make. Unfortunately, not all veterans get today off from work, but they should.

***

On to epilogues. Love 'em? Hate 'em? Blah about them either way? Of the last five books I've read, four have had epilogues. New trend? Probably not. Most likely it's a fluke four out of five I read lately had epilogues.

What genres tend to have epilogues? All. Cindy Gerard uses them in her RS body guard series. The epilogue is the same in each book - the family (and their significant others) all together playing croquet. What I like about Cindy's epilogues is that she uses them to introduce the next "conflict" for the next book in the series. Kind of an intriguing way to do that, I think.

A lot of paranormals tend to have epilogues, showing the HEA months after the story ends. Susan Elizabeth Phillips generally has epilogues in her books for the same reason (and hers are very fun to read). And short time-frame books (ie. chases or books that only span a few days) tend to use the epilogue to show the lasting romance.

Which authors do you think make good use of the epilogue? Which don't? If you're a writer, do you generally include an epilogue or not? Honestly, I don't think I've ever written one, but I'm not opposed to them, either. If it fits the story, I say go for it.

Yeah, Still All About the Characters

2007-11-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

First, the skinny on my current contest:

I'm going to leave this open 9:00 PM EST Saturday, November 10. Okay, here's the deal:

1) Visit my author page at Samhain (http://www.samhainpublishing.com/authors/linda-winfree).

2) Peruse the blurbs and/or excerpts for my current releases (What Mattered Most, Truth and Consequences and His Ordinary Life).

3) Drop me an email with SAMHAIN CONTEST in the subject line to linda_winfree at yahoo dot com (you know what to do). In the email, tell me which title you would like if your name is drawn, along with 1-2 sentences telling me why you're interested in this particular title.

4) Saturday night, I'll draw for two winners and announce them at the Samhain Cafe as well as my blog.

***

Today, the Spanish II class gifted us with the annual Spanish play. These are always an excercise in hilarity and this year was no exception. Our Spanish students chose to translate Napoleon Dynamite. Yes, you read that correctly.

Now, let me preface this by saying I didn't make it through one entire viewing of Napoleon Dynamite. My students are always horrified to hear this because, you know, "Oh, man, Ms. Winfree, that's the funniest movie ever!"

Yeah. Sure it is.

But watching the play today and watching the audience reaction, I could somewhat see the appeal of the non-funniest movie ever.

It's the characters. The kids fall in love with Napoleon, Kip, Pedro . . .

I'm a plotter all the way, but I've been reminded again lately of how important character consistency is. I'm doing some minor revisions on my spring release, Anything But Mine, before my editor and I begin the major editing process. This book is closely tied to another in my Hearts of the South series, Hold On to Me. Over the summer, I rewrote Hold On to Me, changing the backstory to up the conflict and further focus the heroine's character. But it's not the heroine who changes the character layers in Anything But Mine.

It's all Tick.

He, of course, is the hero in Hold On to Me. The hero in Anything But Mine is his close friend and colleague. There's a minor backstory issue in HOTM that affects their relationship in ABM. It's not a major point, but no way is Tick going to be all smiling and happy in Stanton's presence in ABM. He's resentful, a little angry, that some of the pain he and the heroine suffered could have been alleviated if not for one act of Stanton's. So, even though my revisions aren't major, there's quite a bit of character layering to be done to keep the characters consistent.

Have you had to revise for character consistency before? Any tips you'd care to share? Or books where you think the characters should have been more consistent?

Excerpt: Judgment Fire

2007-11-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

The massive rock barrier of the southern Sierra and its jagged snow-covered pinnacles never failed to inspire Tempe. Normally, the pine, aspen and cedar forest bordering the winding highway calmed and reassured her--until this afternoon.

A face popped into her mind. Someone she hadn't seen or thought of for quite awhile, which added to the apprehension she couldn't shake. Deputy Tempe Crabtree attributed her uneasiness to the fact that her assigned beat, the tiny community of Bear Creek and the surrounding area, would soon be swollen with Memorial Day weekend tourists. Fishermen, swimmers, and water skiers would swarm the banks of Lake Dennison, and visitors in all sorts of vehicles would soon clog the two-lane road to the high country and its many camping sites. Her work load would increase a hundred-fold.

She made a quick pass through Bear Creek and continued upward into the mountains. Her vehicle, a white Blazer with SHERIFF printed in large black letters above the gold county seal on both doors, made her highly visible.

The route followed the river's course and she caught glimpses of it from time to time. Most of the homes and ranches were hidden from view by the thick tangle of wild berry bushes, manzanita, and shadowed woodlands.

Maneuvering the Blazer around a sharp curve, she drew in a quick breath and braked. Fire engulfed the front end of a green mini-van, outlining a person in the front seat. The vehicle was stopped at the side of the road, flames licking at the bordering brush.

Tempe radioed her position and requested assistance before leaping from her vehicle and dashing to the driver's side of the van. She yanked on the handle, but the door wouldn't budge. The cab was filled with smoke. "Get out!"

The driver, a Native American woman in her fifties, faced straight ahead, long fingers gripping the steering wheel. It was Doretha Nightwalker, her silver hair brushed tightly back into a bun. Though Doretha's eyes were open, she didn't seem aware of what was happening.

The windshield and dashboard were melting. Doretha would die if Tempe didn't get her out immediately.

Darting around the van, Tempe leaped the burning brush and reached for the passenger door. After a short struggle, the door opened. "Doretha! You've got to get out now."

The woman didn't react. Tempe scrambled into the front seat. Smoke burned her eyes and the intense heat made breathing difficult.

Tempe yanked the woman’s arm, but Doretha continued to clutch the steering wheel. Flames sneaked through the cracks of the firewall. One by one, Tempe pried Doretha's fingers loose. Grabbing her around the waist, she yanked the slender woman across the seat and pulled her out of the burning vehicle.

One of the van's tires exploded as Tempe dragged Doretha to her Blazer. Opening the passenger door, she hoisted the woman onto the floor of the Blazer. Doretha stared vacantly.

"Doretha, are you hurt?" Tempe spoke loudly, trying to get through to the woman. Another van tire burst. A siren whined in the distance.

Grasping her wrist, Tempe felt Doretha's pulse. Rapid and strong. No cuts or bruises were on her face. Examining her quickly, Tempe found no obvious broken bones. Of course internal injuries were possible.

The siren grew louder. "We'll have help soon, Doretha."

Doretha still didn't respond.

Tempe grabbed her microphone and contacted the dispatcher. "We've got a single vehicle, fully involved. One victim. We need an ambulance."

Long, slender fingers grabbed Tempe's arm. "No, no ambulance. I'm not hurt." Doretha's voice was deep and raspy.

"You should be checked out by a doctor," Tempe said.

"There's no need."

Tempe shrugged, and picked up the mike. "Cancel the ambulance."

Facing Doretha, Tempe asked, "What happened? Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. My mind was off somewhere. To tell you the truth, I was thinking about you. All of sudden the car was on fire...I pulled off the road. I don't remember anything after that."

Amazing. "That's strange because you're face popped into my mind just before I turned the corner and discovered your van on fire."

Doretha nodded. "Yes, I thought it was something like that."

Before Tempe could ask what she meant, the fire engine rounded the bend and came to a halt. Captain Roundtree and two volunteers in black-and-yellow turnout gear and helmets leaped out, carrying fire extinguishers and hoses. "I don't think they'll be able to save much," Tempe said.

"No, I realize that. A small sacrifice."

"You do have insurance, don’t you?"

"Oh, yes. My van will be replaced. But I'm relieved to know that this didn't happen because I was out of harmony. That's when most misfortunes occur."

Doretha, a shaman, viewed the world in a unique manner. Tempe first met her while investigating the disappearance and murder of a small child. Doretha was one of several Native Americans who had recently helped Tempe learn more about her own Yanduchi heritage.

Her curiosity piqued, Tempe asked, "Why do you suppose I had you on my mind just before I came upon you? Something psychic?"

Doretha chuckled. "That's one way of putting it I suppose. However, I think there's a simpler explanation. Our paths were intended to cross."

Why? Did Doretha have a specific reason why they were supposed to see each other? Did the shaman have a problem she needed Tempe's help with? Or was it Tempe who needed Doretha?

*****

Marilyn Meredith is the author of award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series as well as other novels. The latest is, Judgment Fire, from Mundania Press. Under the name of F. M. Meredith she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, the latest, Fringe Benefits. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, EPIC and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville, much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives.

Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com

Taglines

2007-11-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

Boiling a 400+ manuscript into a one line pitch is a killer. That's why we write 400+ page manuscripts -- it's easier than writing one line that encompasses an entire book.

But, as with everything in life, practice makes perfect. The more you do it, the easier it gets. The more of them you read, the better idea you have of how to do it.

The best place to get examples -- NYT Bestsellers List -- after all, they must know something about it seeing as they made it this far.

How about these tag lines from the top 20:

1) A retired F.B.I. agent has a chance to track a rapist who may have murdered his wife.

2) A princess is challenged by work at an African Red Cross camp.

3) N/A

4) A woman vows to punish the wealthy American man who lured her mother into a prostitution ring.

5) A woman elevated by inheritance to the ranks of London high society navigates her new world with the help of a handsome socialite.

6) A divorce lawyer may be murdering his clients’ spouses.

7) The members of the Camel Club reunite to solve a murder at the Library of Congress.

8) Two Boston P.I.’s investigate the disappearance of a 4-year-old girl they assume is dead.

9) A comic police procedural involving a jewelry store robbery, a Russian nightclub and an undercover operation gone wrong.

10) A marine archaeologist hunts for the lost golden menorah of Jerusalem.

11) The young couple from “True Believer,” who are now expecting a child, get a disturbing message.

12) A green-skinned girl grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West.

13) A “haze of terror” descends on a small town; originally published as a novella in the collection “Skeleton Crew.”

14) Two friends as close as sisters share a deadly confidence.

15) Murder, arson and lust surround the building of a 12th-century cathedral.

16) A human surgeon cares for a wounded vampire.

17) Two novellas about two murders, one in the world of politics, the other in the world of music.

18) A dead detective once suspected of murder reaches out through a Ouija board to clear his name.

19) A Victorian woman, promised by her father to a man she’s never met, assumes a false identity to spy on her intended.

20) A chess champion keeps a protective eye on his hairdresser wife after receiving veiled threats from a Russian opponent.

Some are better than others. Those I find most compelling: 1, 2, 6, 10, 14, 15, 18, 19. These contain some element of intrigue...lead me to want to know more, to pick up the book and read the back cover.

How about you -- which of these interest you and why? How do you squeezy your manuscript down into a sentence?

Guest Blogger: Cynthia Lea Clark

2007-11-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

I have taken several of Cynthia's online courses via KOD and she recently presented to our RWA group. She is a wealth of information on pychology and the criminal mind, and I'd like to welcome her to RWKF today!

Cynthia is teaching another course for KOD in January -- Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Homeland Security.

*****

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL SO SWEET….BUT NOT IF……..

A rose is left at your door step. Romance or something sinister?

There you are working out in a gym, buying groceries, having coffee. Enjoying life. But what happens when someone disrupts that life? A person watches you. He or she stalks your every move. Now maybe this person finds you attractive and is just to shy to say hi or maybe this person is mad because you got that promotion at work instead of them, is a former lover, or worse, this person is a serial killer or a rapist and is watching you, his/her next victim.

Many, many years ago, one might break up with a guy or gal and drive by his or her house to see if there has been a replacement. No one thought twice about this. The same rejected suitor might call the other and hang up once or a hundred times. But then we didn't have caller ID. My times have changed. Now, if you call someone they know immediately it's you. Even if you use a payphone, it would be a good bet it's you. And now it’s called stalking.

I won't give my age, but suffice to say, I drove around the block a few times to see if the lights were on in my day, to see if there was a new car parked out front. Seems harmless and as long as it never gets passed a drive-by or two. And as long as that’s all it is, it is. It's when it becomes an obsession, which now seems to be a past time that we need to worry.

This Blog is called Romance Worth Killing Worth. Ummm. Sounds like a Stalker’s mantra.

Some stalkers think you love him or her too. I will use the one pronoun, him, for sake of ease but know that stalking is an equal opportunity crime.

I could write about any criminal but given the name, I felt stalkers calling to me. There are several types of stalkers and if you yourself haven't driven by an old boy or girl friend's, you may have been stalked or know someone who has been.

Stalkers can be crazies or they can look like average Joe, the guy next store, the Judge in court. Actually, the Judge, the policeman, and the doctor are some of the scariest stalkers. These professions already demand respect and yield power. They are used to getting their way and when they want it they want it. Plus others don't expect these professions to stoop to stalking. They tend to make the victims life even harder as few if any believe that such esteem people would stalk.

Who stalks? Anyone could stalk. As I have stated, a scorned lover, or someone just dumped could be a stalker.

There are many types of stalkers. The largest group of stalkers are those who had some sort of previous relationship with the victim, i.e., a former lover, boss, employee, etc. This group along with the serial killer are the most dangerous. The stalker who had a relationship uses fear to try and win back the victim. This can frequently escalate into violence. The ex may go to the person's place of employment and shoot it up, sometimes shooting the love of his life and other times not. His intent is to show her how deep his love is in the cases where he shoots others and where he shoots her, it is “if I can't have you no one can.”

But not all victims know their stalkers. “Famous” people, those on television, in film, on the radio, etc., may develop fans who suffer from erotomania. Erotomania is where the stalker feels that the stalkee is also in love with them, and is talking directly to them. If they wave, it’s a secret wave to them. Stalkers who suffer from erotomania are mostly women and their victims tend to be older men.

But the “love” stalkers are similar to the erotomania in that they think someone in television, film, radio, Internet, is directly talking to them and shares the same feelings for them as they have. There is no prior real relationship; any relationship is in their mind. Obsessed fans fall into this category. Many have psychological disorders as well and declare themselves as someone’s wife, etc. They make up the second largest group of stalkers.

Other stalkers include the delusional one. This one has little to no contact with the victim. However, they believe that a heavy pursuit will win their suitor. They are unmarried, socially immature, and a loner. They rarely date and have few if any sexual relationships. They go after someone unattainable, an actor, a lawyer, teacher, or a therapist for example. They may have been abused as a child and have no sense of personal identity. They are tenacious and will stalk for years until stopped. Any contact, even negative, such as arrests encourages them.
The vengeful stalker tends to be a former employee or someone in a position to consider him wronged. He is probably paranoid. He stalks to plot getting even.

The False Victimization Syndrome is a rather clever stalker who accuses her victim of stalking her. Her goal is to illicit sympathy and get her target into trouble. They tend to be female.
The Terroristic Stalker is generally male. He suffers from a psychopathic personality however has no mental disorder. He tends to seek out his family members. And anonymously harasses them. And there is a trigger or a precipating stressor.

The Psychotic Personality Stalker can be male or female. They target random strangers and develop delusions and then fixate. They do attempt to contact their prey. There is no precipating stressor.

When stalkers begin their campaign of fear they use numerous techniques including, telephone calls (harassing, threatening, hang-ups, etc.), letters, emails, following, surveillance, photos, videos, ordering unwanted goods on the victim’s behalf and sending them COD, and threatening the victim, their family, and their property.

With the Internet, cyber-stalking has added a new dimension to the terror that can be delivered. Instant messages of terror, emails, chats, pretending to be someone else, hacking, sending viruses, Trojans, monitoring cell phones, posing as the victim on the Internet all cause more grief and trouble.

Males make up 90% of the stalkers and are 20% of the victims. 65% of the males stalked know their stalker and 30% of these are by a former intimate partner.

Most of the male stalking victims are most likely to be stalked by another male.

80% of female stalking victims know their stalkers and 59% of them are stalked by a former intimate partner. 81% of these women were physically assaulted. 31% were physically and sexually assaulted.

Male stalkers are more likely to have a criminal background and drug abuse than a female stalker. Males are more likely to stalk strangers.

Females are likely to stalk their therapists.

Women stalk to establish or maintain intimacy with their target.

Men stalk to restore an intimate relationship.

Non violent stalkers are more likely to have had only a casual relationship with their target.

20% of stalkers use weapons as a threat or to harm their targets.

Only 53% of those stalked report it to the police.

Those who are stalked suffer from post traumatic stress, sleep disturbances, substance abuse, suicidology, irritation, agitation, nervousness, they have relationship problems, and suffer with decreased school or work performance.

To escape a stalker a victim might move, change their name, change their job, stay inside, stop socializing, change their appearance, change their phone number, and they may start carrying a weapon.

Next time you receive an unexpected rose….think about it, a sweet smelling rose of romance or is a stalker lurking?

Dr. Cynthia Lea Clark
Forensic Psychopathologist
http://www.cynthialeaclark.com/

Still Stuck...

2007-11-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

"This sucks." Cruise tosses the remote control on the scuffed coffee table that's seen better days and pushes off the couch. The guys-weekend-from-hell is getting worse. They're about out of beer, the Cheetos dried up sometime yesterday morning and someone in the room ate too much chili on their chili dog last night because the SBDs are smokin' them all out. The lack of windows in The Basement only makes things worse.

Cruise pushes a hand through his hair and starts pacing. "It's Monday-frickin'-afternoon for Pete's sake!" He looks up to the ceiling and raises his voice just to make sure She can hear him. "Did you hear me??? Some of us have work to do!"

Tick glances at Rio. "I think he's losing it."

Rio regards Tick thoughtfully. "Wasn't there a Pete in here with us last time?"

Tick rubs a hand over his weekend's worth of stubble. "Now that you mention it, there was. Slick dude. Didn't like him."

Rio reaches for the remote Cruise dropped and sarts flipping channels. "Me neither. Too slick."

He and Tick look at each other and nod in unison. "Felon."

Brody chuckles from across the room where he's lying on his back, feet propped against the concrete slap wall, tossing his baseball against the wall while Cruise continues pacing and muttering to himself.

"What's so funny?" Stanton asks, looking up from the Women's Day he's found wedged into a basket full of old magazines and newspapers.

Brody grins. "The felon. He'll be back. Uber-agent's reading his book right now. Guarantee there'll be edits."

"Fabulous," Rio mutters, returning his attention to the TV. "That's all we need in here. The only thing that'd make it better is if good ol' Troy Lee was in here too."

Tick quickly looks away.

Stanton's eyes narrow. "What do you know that we don't?"

"Nothing," Tick says quickly. Too quickly. "I mean, just that She's got his torture all laid out. And knowing Troy Lee, it's going to get worse before it gets better."

"I do not want to be stuck in here with Troy Lee," Ash says adamantly from the recliner where he's been pretending to sleep.

Cruise finally stops pacing long enough to glance toward the SI Swimsuit special Rio's paused the TV on. But his attention is obviously elsewhere because he looks away from the TV and scans each of the men's faces. "How much longer can this go on? Seriously. We've all got things to do."

"Not all of us," Theron mutters from the corner of the room where he's been quietly plotting to escape most of the day.

Brody catches the ball and stills. "Now that sounds like animosity, to me. Did you boys here that?"

Cruise drops into the other recliner and rolls his eyes. "Here we go again. Don't you two have anything better to do than bicker about who's getting WIP time?"

"I do," Theron mumbles.

"Not me," Brody says, going back to his tossing. The ball hits the concrete wall with a thunk. "Season's over, spring training doesn't start until Feb. I got all the time in the world. 'Course you wouldn't understand that. You being a spook and all. Busy things to do. Like wire-tapping innocent citizens, making deals with terrorists, and then there's that ever-present hunting-down-Bin-Laden thing that you guys can't seem to get right. And on that subject, explain it to me. Why can't you guys seem to find one old man again?"

"That's it!" Cruise leaps off the couch. "I've had about enough of your mouth."

Tick and Rio both step in to intercept. Tick puts a hand on Cruise's chest to keep him back. "He's just trying to get you going."

Brody chuckles.

Tick looks Brody's way. "And you. Knock it off, meat. It's bad enough we're all stuck in here together without your smartass comments."

Brody pushes up from the floor and slouches against the wall, all flippant attitude and defiant charm. "I'm hurt. Did you just call me meat?"

"Yeah, deal with it. And cut the crap."

Brody lifts a brow. "Watch Bull Durham one too many times, insect man?"

"Let me hit him. Just once," Cruise pleads. "It'll make us all feel better."

"That's true," Theron says from across the room.

Tick looked at Rio. Rio shrugs in a why not? move. Stanton puts down the article on how to bake a bundt cake and grins. "This could get interesting."

Tick finally drops his hand. He lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I know pounding on each other sounds like a good idea at the moment, but I'll be the one in trouble if there's a brawl. Remember the card game?"

"What card game?" Ash asks. "You played cards without me?"

"That wasn't our fault," Rio cuts in. "There were extenuating circumstances."

"Still," Tick says, shaking his head. "I've been around here the longest, and it's not wise to tick Her off. Now if we just---"

The basement door opens with a soft click. Silence falls over the room as all the men turn to look toward the lean woman standing in the doorway wearing cargo pants, a fitted black tee and army boots.

Theron uncoils from his corner, but She doesn't seem to notice him. She's zeroed in on Brody across the room. A wicked smile curls Her mouth, and She lifts one finger, beckoning him toward Her.

Theron shoots forward. No one attempts to stop him. "No!"

She turns Her attention his way. Her smile fades. Her violet eyes narrow. Theron stops dead in the center of the room as something unsaid passes between them. His shoulders slump. Then suddenly She turns. She looks at Brody again over Her shoulder and heads for the door.

A lopsided grin curls Brody's mouth. He hikes up his Levi's. "Been nice knowin' ya, losers." He follows Her out of the room. The door snaps shut with an echoing click.

Theron slumps back to the floor.

Ash kicks the recliner footrest down. "Um. What just happened here?"

Theron's jaw clenches. "She's toying with me."

Silence.

"Um, no offense," Ash finally says, "but what does that mean for the rest of us?"

"It means the weekend's over," Tick says. "And The Other Two will be coming for us soon."

Rio tips his head and studies the closed door. "Well, some of us. Hopefully."

*****

"Yoo-hoo," another female voice calls from the top of the stairs.

All male ears in the basement perk.

"Are there any spooks, spies or CIA hanging out down there?" she asks.

Every man's gaze turns on Cruise. Stanton leans back and laces his fingers behind his head with a sour expression. "As a matter of fact--"

Cruise smacks Stan in the chest, cutting him off as he squints suspiciously at the darkened stairwell. "Who wants to know?"

She clears her throat, taps her foot. "Let me rephrase. Are there any spooks, spies or CIA hanging out down there who want steamy shower sex?"

Every man's feet hit the floor. Every spine straightens.

Stanton ducks and peers toward the top of the stairs. "Uh, nope, no spooks down here, just a lousy diplomat. But I've been in some pretty dicey situations in the past, know how to lie my ass right out of trouble--"

"No way Stan," Tick says. "I've been on three times as many undercover operations as you have. I'm far more qualified as a spy."

"Sorry, boys." Rio extends his arms and cracks his knuckles with a smug expression. "My UC ops have extended for years. I've lied to drug cartel, military leaders and psychopathic murderers. I'm way out of your league."

Theron stands, shoves his shoulders back until his full height looms over the other men. "None of you can deny I'm the most suspicious one here."

Ash taps his temple with one finger, comtemplative. "I don't suppose disposing of chicken corpses would count as espinage..."

Cruise is quiet, now standing aside the doorway peering past the jamb. The silouhette of a woman outlined in yellow light hovers on the top step. "Who wants to know?"

"Jesus," Rio frowns at Cruise and darts a disgusted look at Tick. "He's way below rookie status. He's just a fucking idiot."

"Hmmm," the woman ponders. "Too bad there's no spy down here, cause I've really amped up that shower scene, and I'm letting him stay afterward for more instead of cutting to the future. Big, comfortable bed, Egyptian cotton sheets. Slow this time, too. No wham-bam, which has it's place and all, but we've always got to remember if there's no meaning behind a sex scene, we may as well be writing porno."

"What's wrong with porno?" Stan mutters, pouting now, arms crossed again.

She sighs, long and loud. "I'm kinda thinking after the intensity of the shower, my h/h might indulge in some exploration of bodies, a little experimentation...might throw in some mouth action--"

Every man rises to his feet.

"I'm the spy!" Cruise bellows up the stairwell. He turns on the imposters, whips his Glock from the holster at his spine and trains it on the rest of men as he backs toward the darkened stairs. "Step away from my muse. Anyone even so much as looks at these stairs is going to loose an eyeball...or worse."

Cruise's feet pound up the stairs and the door closes with an exhuberant slam. All the men sink back into their seats...except Rio. He stalks to the opening to the stairs, braces his hands on either side of the jamb and yells, "Hey, what about me? Any word from the agents?"

"Sorry, handsome," Her voice floats back, fading. "Nothing yet."

Rio swears again, scraps a hand through his hair and stalks back to his recliner. "Damn spies have all the luck."

Fun Stuff On Tap

2007-11-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Romance Worth Killing For has decided to sweep into fall with some exciting changes.

1) Guests every Tuesday

2) Excerpts (translation: free reads) every Thursday

Of course, we'll still have our regular postings: Monday-Elisabeth, Wednesday-Joan and Friday-Linda.

On tap for November:

11.6 -- Cynthia Lea Clark, Forensic Psychologist
11.13 -- Bonnie Hearn Hill, multi-pubbed author and writing instructor
11.27 -- Charlotte Cook, President, Komenar Publishing

Published/debut authors: interested in a little free promo? Submit your excerpts to us for consideration at ultraswan AT hotmail DOT com. Each week, either Elisabeth, Joan or Linda will evaluate submissions and post the most compelling each Thursday with an author bio and cover art (if available).

Return to the Basement

2007-11-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

"This place is the pits." Ash sweeps a finger along the battered coffee table and grimaces at the traces of Cheetos dust. The Muse disappeared days ago but it seemed like she'd at least dust the place every once in a while. Disgusting. "Why do you hang out here?"

Tick shrugs. He's kicked back in the recliner, eyes closed. "You get used to it after a while."

Across the Basement, Stanton stops pacing and glares at him. "In your dreams."

"Relax, Stanny-boy." Tick opens one eye to look at him. "She hasn't started your revisions yet. She's thinking through them. You'll be here a while."

Stanton throws out his hands. "I shouldn't even be here. The damn revisions don't have anything to do with me. It's just layers."

Brows lowered in a slight frown, Ash is watching Tick. "You're in an awful good mood. That long dry spell finally break?"

Tick's wicked grin lights his face. "Your book. Chapter five."

Ash's bark of surprised laughter fills the confined space. "Wait a minute. It's my book and you got laid before me?"

"Benefits of marriage."

"He had to wait ten months for it," Stanton says.

Tick gives him the finger and straightens, slamming the recliner to an upright position. "Besides, She's in the middle of your scene now, although I think She stopped to write her paper for grad school."

Ash rolls his eyes heavenward. "Well, that's just great. And how long does that mean I'll be stuck standing in the middle of my bedroom, staring at Madeline without being able to touch her?"

"Well, that paper's due Sunday."

Ash groans.

Footsteps clatter on the stairs beyond the door and all three turn that way.

***
The door bangs open. Two men who couldn't be more different barge into the room. One's built as big as a tank, dressed all in black like a big, badass biker dude with a scowl to match. The other is slim, athletic and tan, holding a baseball bat and sporting a cheesy grin, looking like he's just caught ten off a gnarly wave.

The door snaps shut behind them.

Stanton groans and heads for the couch.

Tick frowns. "Holy Hell, She's done it again."

"What?" Ash asks.

Stanton lets out a long-suffering sigh from across the room. "Trapped us in with these yahoos. I'm guessing they're from the west coast."

The younger one lifts the bat onto his shoulder. "I am. Thor over there's from outer space. Name's Brody."

Tick and Ash return his handshake. Stanton flips on the TV and waves without looking at the newcomers.

The biker dude rolls his dark eyes. "I hate humans. And the name's not Thor."

"Theron, Theo, Thor, all sounds the same to me," Brody says as he makes himself at home, drops into a beat-to-hell recliner and lifts an open bag of Cheetos from the side table. "And I like how you conveniently forget you're half human." He glances up at the other three, as if finally remembering they're there. "Anyone got beer?"

Ash shoots a confused glance at Tick. "Uh, the guy's not human?"

Tick tosses back a how-the-hell-should-I-know? look.

Theron sinks onto the steps where he's been standing and rubs a hand over his face. "I didn't sign up for this. I'm going home."

"Sorry," Stanton calls from the frayed couch. "No way out."

Theron glances toward Brody.

Brody shrugs and pops a Cheeto into his mouth. "He's right. Your little poof powers won't work in here. Lead walls or something."

Theron's eyes narrow. "I'm not a fictional vampire, dumbass. Lead walls don't stop me."

Tick sighs and reaches for the remote control. "I think there's like a time-space continuum thing going on in here. None of us can get out. If we could we wouldn't be in here, we'd be shacked up with our heroine's. And why are you so grouchy anyway, space boy?"

"I'm not from space, you moron. I'm a hero."

"Uh," Ash lifts a finger. "Aren't we all heroes?"

Brody rolls his eyes. "He's speaking technically."

Theron glowers at Brody. "Literally and figuratively."

Brody laughs, long and loud, like he's in on some private joke that even Theron doesn't know. They all look his way, even Theron, who could be growling, none of them are completely sure and no one's willing to ask.

When his laughter dies down, Brody pulls a baseball from his pocket and starts tossing it up toward the ceiling, catching it again with one hand. "He's pouting because uber-agent finally gave Her the go ahead on his book and instead she's happy with me."

"She's not happy with you," Theron counters. "You're pushy. And you're in Maui."

"Hey, I can't help it if this body was built for the beach. And it's not my fault She stuck me somewhere more exotic than la-la land." Stanton and Tick exchange glances at their bickering, but Brody ignores it. "If you have a problem with how She's handling--"

His words are cut off by more pounding on the stairs outside. Brody and Theron both look toward the door. Tick drops into the other recliner and pauses the TV on the Georgia-Auburn game. Ash reached for another beer.

Stanton sinks lower on the couch with a heavy sigh. "I think it's about to get a little more crowded in here, boys."

***

Tick's frown eases as Rio jogs into the room, obviously high on somethin'. His grin turns on Tick and lifts his hand for a hi-five. "Hey, Tick." He gestures to the empty recliner beside him before sitting and stretching out. "This the winner's circle?"

Tick chuckles. "You betcha. Been saving your seat."

Brody stops tossing his ball, his look one of incensed irritation. "If there's a winner's circle around here, I should be in it."

"Your book finished?" Rio asks.

"Well, no, but--"

"Tick's book is finished," Rio said. "And mine is not only finished, it's been requested by four top-tier agents. This," he hooks both thumbs toward himself and Tick, "is the winner's circle, my friend."

"Goddamn," Stanton gripes. "How the hell do you get through the door with a head that big?"

"I'm just compensating for Her. Keeping her buoyed, you know?" Rio pushes up one shoulder in a confident shrug. "Least I can do after that HEA She gave me."

"I hate you already," Stanton says, "And I don't even know who the hell you are."

Another dark-haired, dark-eyed, dark-skinned man hovers at the doorway and draws everyone's attention.

"Come on in, Cruise," Rio gestures him in. "No terrorists are going to pop out from the crevices."

"I've got too much to do to shoot the shit with a bunch of heroes." He turns on the stairs and starts up. The door at the top slams, followed by the snick, snick of deadbolts. The sound of Cruise shaking the door handle echo's around an angry, "What the fuck?"

Rio shakes his head and gives Tick a sidelong glance. "Rookie."

Cruise steps into the room, clearly reluctant. His gaze inspects and categorizes each man in the room...until he hits Theron. That one he can't quite figure that guy out.

"What's your story?" Stanton asks Cruise, eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said. Can't you answer a simple question?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, hell." Stanton shoots Tick a look. "He's a spook."

"I'm..." Cruise crosses his arms, lifts his chin, "...a diplomat."

A beat of silence fills the room before all other six men bust up laughing.

"Yeah, right," Stan sputters. "That's good."

"Come on, sit down." Rio pats the arm of the sofa at his side. "I'll show you the ropes. Play your cards right and you'll have your HEA before you know it."

"What's your problem?" Ash asks.

"I don't have any problems." Cruise sinks to the edge of the sofa, elbows on knees, hands clasped. "Except being locked in here with the rest of you."

"You need to get into the spirit, G-man," Brody says. "Got to be a team player."

"G-men are Feds. I'm not a Fed."

"Naw, he's a spook," Stanton pushes, trying his best to rile Cruise.

"Do all her other heroes look like you two?" Theron asks, studying them.

Cruise and Rio look at each other, then at Theron, and Rio asks, "Whad'ya mean?"

"Black hair, brown eyes, dark skinned, same height, build. Both, what...Mexican?"

"Hispanic," they say in unison.

"Hispanic, Mexican, whatever. You need to tell Her to mix things up a little. Two of you look a little like clones." Theron leans back and pops a handful of Cheetos in his mouth. "What the..." He spits them out, wipes his hand with the back of his hand. "You call that food? No wonder you humans are so inferior."

Ash lifts an eyebrow. "She have a thing about Mex...Hispanics?"

"She lives in California," Tick says as if that should explain it all, then turns to Rio with a considering look. "That other guy who was here...the other cop, Carl, Ken..."

"Cole," Rio says, nodding. "He wasn't Hispanic. Neither was his heroine." His grin is sharp and hot. "His loss."

The creak of the door opening at the top of the stairs brings Cruise to his feet.

***

A short, round woman carrying a large plastic box bustles down the stairs. Her red apron, worn over jeans and a black tank-top, doesn't quite cover a wide expanse of copper skin and ample cleavage. The rich, decadent smell of fried food wafts along with her.

"Meka." Tick brightens and moves to take the overflowing container. Towering over her, he grins down. "You're a godsend."

She rolls her eyes and hands him a blue ticket. He tugs his wallet free and starts to open it, when the television catches his eye.

"Yes! Go...run. Run!" His gaze is riveted on the screen.

Meka takes the ticket from his slack grasp and moves toward the stairs, muttering something about adding it to his tab. Cruise hastens after her but finds that somehow, she manages to slip out before he can catch the door. The locks snick closed.

"Yes!" Tick punches a fist in the air. "Hot damn!"

Brody is peering into the grease-stained white sacks. "Hot dogs, fries, burgers...what the hell is this?"

He pulls out a white box and grimaces at the grayish pieces of indeterminate fried meat. Ash glances over his shoulder and back up, his face paling a little. "Chicken gizzards and livers."

Brody looks at him, aghast. "What?"

Ash waves a finger at Stanton. "He eats them."

Shaking his head, Brody puts the box aside. "That's some crazy shit, man."

Cruise edges closer. The smell of fresh french fries is drawing him in. "Where'd the food come from?"

"Big Dawg." Tick doesn't look up from attempting to send a text message. He growls in frustration. "Can't get a damn signal down here."

Rio nudges him. "You and Cait betting on football games again?"

Tick flashes him a grin. "Yeah. That touchdown just covered the point spread, too."

They share a very male laugh. Theron drops onto the couch. It creaks dangerously under his muscular frame. Favoring his bandaged left hand, Ash passes him a chili dog with onioins. Theron studies it a moment before digging in. Surprise and pleasure light his face as he chews.

Ash frowns. "Theron is Greek. It means hunter."

Theron nods and reaches for another chili dog. He pauses a second and takes two from the pile on the battered coffee table. Ash nods and steps back, still watching him.

Cruise stands at the foot of the stairs, munching on a bag of fries, looking anything but happy. "Someone want to tell me how this works? What do I have to do to get the fuck out of here?"

Stanton pops a gizzard in his mouth, mumbling something about spies who can't find their way out of a paper bag.

Eyes narrowed, Cruise lets his gaze rest on him. "Hey, smart ass, you're still down here, too."

"Temporary," Stanton says. "Edits and I'm outta here."

Rio is kicked back in the recliner again. He slants a devious look in Tick's direction. "What exactly do you have riding on this game anyway?"

Tick snorts. "Like I'm telling you with them"--he waves a hand at the other heroes -- "around. Although, actually, come to think of it ... I win even if I lose, you know?"

Rio chuckles.

Face set in annoyed lines, Cruise eyes Theron's out-of-this-world physique. "Hey, you. Think you can take out that door?"

***

"Lord." Tick shakes his head and shifts his gaze from Cruise to Rio. "He reminds me so much of you when you got here."

"Yeah," Rio shrugs, grinning. "Don't worry, he'll evolve eventually. She's slow, but thorough. Look what She's done with me."

Rio's phone vibrates and he tugs it from the back pocket of his jeans. Tick sits a little straighter, forgetting the game on T.V. "Hey, you got a signal?"

"We talked about this last time we were in here, remember. I told you to change your goddamn provider."

Tick opens his phone and frowns at the display.

Rio's chuckle brings Tick's attention back. "What?"

"Getting the inside scoop from my heroine. And it looks like you, spook-boy, will be in here a while."

Cruise's hand pauses with a fry halfway to his mouth. "What the hell? Why?"

"Because She's doing research."

"See..." Cruise tosses the almost-empty bag of fries on a nearby table. "This is what happens when She talks to your" -- he waves a hand toward Brody and Theron -- "She...muse...whatever. She gets this idea that she can just start writing without working it out before hand and where do I end up?" His hands are gesturing wildly now. "Here! With all you losers."

"Hey!" Ash frowns and stabs a finger at Cruise from across the room. "I resemble that remark. Watch it, spook."

"Don't blame us," Theron growls. "I sure as hell don't want to be here with all you friggin' messed up humans!"

"Would you stop bashing humans, already?" Brody says. "In case you haven't noticed, you're a little outnumbered here."

Theron scoffs. "I could take on ten times your numbers without breaking a sweat."

Brody's face darkens. He slaps his bat to the palm of his hand. "Think so, huh?"

"Don't go knocking heads," Rio says. "You'll miss the rest of the good stuff. Like..." He laughs and lifts his chin toward Theron and Brody. "You two better get comfortable. She left for a birthday weekend with girlfriends. You're both SOL."

"She what?" Theron bellows, pushing to his feet.

"Go for the door," Cruise encourages the biker-dude. "If anyone can take it, you can."

"And you, spy-boy, are on the back burner. Your muse is researching the FBI Counterintel site, printing articles on terrorist activities, searching Amazon for spy books." Rio offers Cruise a pitiful look and shakes his head. "Sorry, buddy. When She starts ordering books off Amazon...you're really screwed."

Free Read: Chapter One of THE BEGINNING (Prequel to HOLD ON TO ME) Now Available!

2007-11-01T03:56:00.000-07:00

Over the next six weeks, I'll be posting a chapter weekly of The Beginning, the prequel to my December release Hold On to Me, exclusively to my newsletter group. To subscribe, send a blank email to Linda_Winfree- subscribe @ yahoogroups. com without spaces. If you join before December 1, you'll be eligible to win a gift basket full of Southern goodies and a signed copy of my debut novel What Mattered Most.

I'm including a snippet of The Beginning for your reading pleasure. Happy Halloween, everyone, and I hope you enjoy this little treat!

The Beginning -- A Prequel to Hold On to Me
Coming December 11, 2007 from Samhain Publishing

CHAPTER ONE

She wanted him gone? Fine. He was gone.

Jaw clenched, fighting off an intense nicotine jones, Tick Calvert rested his chin on his fist and watched the Atlanta skyline as the plane banked for final approach. Her voice, her words, pounded in his head, echoing as they had for days. He’d done everything he could possibly do to change her mind.

But you could only kick a dog so many times before it got the message it wasn’t wanted anymore.

As of yesterday, he definitely had gotten her message, loud and clear. Now it was time to move on. Maybe being home again would help him figure out a way to do that. The landing came off without a hitch and with his FBI credentials, he made it through security with relative ease. With only his carryon, he didn’t have to worry about looking for luggage and strode toward the rental car kiosks.

“Where are you going?” The familiar female voice, filled with teasing fondness and a hint of laughter, had him spinning around.

“Tori.” He barely had time to say her name, warmth and affection spurting through him, before his baby sister launched herself at him. His carryon hit the floor, and he wrapped both arms around her, giving in to the impulse to swing her around in his embrace. His eyes burned. Lord, he’d missed her.

Once he’d set her on her feet, she plopped a kiss on his cheek and pulled back, wrinkling her nose. “You smell like cigarettes. And you look like hell.”

“Don’t curse.” The correction came automatically and she rolled her eyes. He studied her, unable to resist a wide grin. Her dark hair was longer than he remembered, pulled into a sleek ponytail, and her eyes, the same dark brown as his own, sparkled up at him with a familiar impish light. “What are you doing here?”

He’d intended to surprise his mother and the rest of his family by turning up a day early.

She reached up to tweak his nose. “Stanton ratted you out. I couldn’t wait to see you and there really wasn’t any reason to let you rent a car if I could drive you home, so here I am.”

He leaned down for his bag and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad to see you.”

Her even white teeth flashed in a grin. “Same here.”

They walked toward the bank of glass doors and she nudged his side. “Mama doesn’t know you’re here, though. I can’t wait to see her face when we turn up this evening.”

The idea warmed him further, driving out some of the chill he’d carried with him since that final confrontation yesterday afternoon. Holy hell, he was ready to be home, to be surrounded by his family and all things familiar.

He needed that. Needed it to get Mississippi out of his head. Needed it to get her out of his head.

To read more, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Linda_Winfree.

I Believe...

2007-10-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

In ghosts and spirits and energy fields and karma. I believe in all those intangible paranormal elements you can’t see or qualify, but that have the ability to influence your psyche and your life.

I’ve never experienced anything paranormal first hand. In college I worked as a bookkeeper at a historic local restaurant that had been a rather large house way back in the day. Weekend mornings I’d go in early and tabulate the sales and tips from the night before. I always worked alone in a tiny office upstairs.

Sometimes I’d wander around the restaurant, sneak a piece of their famous mud pie from the huge stainless industrial refrigerators downstairs, draw myself a soda at the fountain. At about ten AM, the prep cook would come in and spend half an hour hitting on me before he got to work.

I found out after a year of working there it was reputed to be haunted. There had been numerous and consistent sightings of translucent figures—men and women—throughout the restaurant, but especially on the stairs and the second floor. After that, I was a little freaked out when I went into work, looking over my shoulder, peeking around corners before I went into the next room, jogging up and down the stairs instead of walking.

What reminded me of this was today’s local paper—again citing incidences at this location past and, evidently, continuing into the present.

I must have lacked some element ghosts look for to show themselves. And I’m not sure whether I’m grateful for that fact or offended.

In the last 5-7 years, I’ve noticed that I occasionally know what a person will say before they say it. Those moments are brief and scattered and wholly unexplainable. Never with someone I know well. Never what one would be expecting them to say. I don’t know it’s coming, the words simply fill my head a second or less before the other person speaks them. There’s no purpose, no hidden message, just the words, which mean nothing more than they were meant to. It happens maybe three times a year.

Okay, so I’m no psychic. But I definitely believe in psychics. I absolutely believe in the varied levels of consciousness (loved, loved, loved Dragonfly with Kevin Costner—if you haven’t seen it, rent it!), and the ability to see into the past and the future. I believe in angels—good and bad.

I draw the line when paranormal meets Sci-fi. I don’t believe in Vampires or Werewolves or demons.

Do you have any ghost stories? Any paranormal abilities? Know anyone with any?
What do you believe?

Things I'm No Longer Afraid To Admit

2007-10-29T12:27:00.001-07:00

As I sit here trying to think of something pithy to blog about, I keep coming up blank. My brain seems to be elsewhere these days - in the book I'm reading, in the book I'm writing, contemplating the fact I am no longer a young spring chicken. My birthday is this coming Saturday and it's one of those milestone ones. You know, the kind where you think about your age and say, "OMG, I'm THAT old?!" My mother didn't help matters much when she was here on Sat. and I mentioned how old I'm turning. Her reaction was a slack-jawed, "Oh, my word. You can't possibly BE that old!"

Um. Yeah. Thanks, Mom.

So in thinking about that old-age milestone (which, as I said before, is occupying way more of my brain-time these days than it should) I've been contemplating what I'm not afraid to admit anymore. Here's the list I came up with:

1. I like country music. Never thought I'd EVER admit to that, but there it is. Not the twangy stuff, but the newer bands/singers, though I've always had a soft spot for Kenny Rogers and John Denver. Most of my WIP song lists have country songs (lots, actually).

2. I don't like literary fiction. I've tried to read it, but the result is always the same. I put the book down and never look back. I hated it when I was in school, hate it even more now.

3. I read Lord Of The Rings solely for the love story and felt gypped in the end when it was an "addendum" at the end of the book. Granted, it was a great book, but if I hadn't known of the love story hiding in there I wouldn't have ever made it through the first 100 pgs of which hobbit beget which hobbit. Gah. Boring.

4. I don't enjoy reading ebooks. Probably because I spend too much time on the computer doing my own writing/editing. I love being able to hold a book in my hand and soak in the tub (and that ain't easy or safe to do with the laptop). I'm thrilled when my ebook author friends have print releases.

5. I hate Halloween. Truly hate it. Dressing up has never interested me. It's one of those holidays I suffer through for the sake of my kids.

6. I like the Backstreet Boys. 'Nuff said there. Won't embarrass myself further.

7. I love to read good romance. I don't care what genre it's in - whether it's contemporary, historical, erotic or suspense. If it's a great story, I'm hooked. Unfortunately, there are less and less "great" stories out there (at least that I can find).

8. I'm the most impatient person in the world. Old age hasn't helped me develop my patience skill. Neither has parenting.

9. I live in my own fantasy world most of the time. The DH says it's like talking to a wall a lot of the time because I'm off in la-la land with my characters. I lead a very sheltered life because of it (boring to the outside world) but I wouldn't want it any other way.

and,

10. If I couldn't write, I'd be a very unhappy person. It's amazing how much writing has become a part of my life in the years since I started. I can't remember what life was like before I was serious about writing, but I know I wouldn't want to go back to that. I'd feel empty.

What things are you no longer afraid to admit? Give it a try. It's very freeing to be able to admit you're a closet Backstreet Boy junkie. (Okay, maybe.)

A Promotional Primer

2007-10-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Many times as writers, we focus only on making that initial sale. Visions of The Call and our reaction dance in our heads. Very rarely do those imaginings include the realities of what lies in wait once that first goal is realized.

For the past few months, between edits and writing a new manuscript and teaching and . . . well, you get the picture, I've been slowly developing and getting a handle on my marketing plans. Luckily, the house for which I write has a marketing director who is very accessible and eager to help. I'm also surrounded by other authors willing to share their promotional expertise. So slowly, sometimes agonizingly so, I'm getting a handle on this new learning curve called promotion and marketing.

Here's the deal: whether one sells to a large New York house, a small commercial press, an academic small press or an e-publisher, a writer will have to promote herself on some level. Samhain, the house I'm published with, has several authors who also write for larger New York companies. They've said over and over, they are expected to do as much promo on their own for their New York books as they are for their small press books. Although the print runs and distribution might be larger, the need to promote is the same.

So what works, you ask? I'm not sure, I answer. (But I'm working on it.) Buzz and name recognition are key. Branding is important. I'm getting that much down. The best ways to build buzz, etc. still eludes me (but I'm learning).

The key, I believe, is knowing your target audience. With Samhain, I have two: those who buy and read e-books and those who buy print books. (That's within those who buy romantic suspense). Therefore, I have a marketing plan for my e-releases and one for my future print releases. Although some of the techniques are the same, the approaches are different. (Why do I have to worry about promoting for an e-release, I can hear people asking, I'm only subbing to print houses. Well, the reality is that many houses, such as Harlequin and Kensington, are now producing electronic versions of their titles. And people who read e-books often buy print titles as well. I sincerely believe targeting to both markets is a smart decision.)

Now that I've rambled, here are promotional ideas that seem to have worked for me:

1) Web presence. Website, blog, MySpace, somewhere readers can find out more about you and your books. Offer them a reason to come back. No, wait. Make it impossible for them NOT to check back. Connect with your readers.

2) Reader loops. I choose these over writer loops (although I also participate in a couple of writer loops as well). Rather than joining many, many loops, I have four on which I post regularly -- my publisher loop, one for readers of suspense books, a review site's reader loop and one for readers of romance. Because drive-by promotion is annoying, I strive to be a regular presence, taking part in everyday discussions so when I am promoting my books, it's less intrusive.

3) Chats. I have not had great luck with live chats, but I believe this is due to the fact I've always gone to free-for-all chats, where many authors can chime in. It gets cluttered. I'm looking at scheduling one or two with just me or a few other authors. However, I have success with chat loops, such as Novelspotters. My sales usually increase after one of these loop chats.

4) Newsletter. I have a Yahoo group I use solely for my newsletter, which goes out once a month. I try to offer my subscribers something they won't get just by browsing my blog or website. For instance, my free reads are available through my newsletter group and often I will run a newsletter-only contest.

These are my big four. I'm working now on developing an advertising plan and I'm learning to send out press releases in advance of print releases. Also, I'm working on bookmarks and postcards to use for mailings and conference goodie bag promo. In the weeks to come, I'll share those experiences as well.

Do you have unique promotional ideas to add here? What does or doesn't work for you? Please share!

Lighter Side

2007-10-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've been submerged in character development all morning and when I come up for air after that, my brain is always a little fuzzy. So, let's talk about something else...something fun.

Have you all seen the FlyPen? It's been out for a few years, but, as all technology, has advanced and morphed into a multi-element power tool.

I saw a commercial recently that caught my interest -- you can write with the FlyPen on the FlyPaper (in notebook form) and then upload that to your computer...digitize it. This includes graphics/images you draw.

How cool would it be not to tote a laptop around with you 24/7? To utilize a pen and paper and not have to retype your progress into the computer? To jot notes, develop theories, draw associations or a map or even a flow chart with plot points and upload them into your computer?

Do you know how many tablets and random pieces of paper I have floating around with nuggets of information on them--character traits, plot ideas, names, location information? Or how hard it is to keep them all together, find the time and organization to get all those elements into a binder for current or future use? Or how hard those notes are to read days, weeks, months later?

It sounds like the FlyPen might be a really fun and useful, even potentially sanity saving, little toy for a writer. Not to mention the fact that our kids can use it for homework and we can write it off on our taxes. :-)

Does anyone have one? Have you seen it? There may be (probably is) drawbacks I'm not aware of. I mean, you have to use their products -- their paper, their software, their ink...but none of it is outrageously expensive. Even the main Fly Fusion Pentop Computer is only $80 bucks, and comes with lots of software already loaded. And if I wanted to add French for my high school aged daughter, it's only $15.

Christmas is coming...might want to take a look at it for your kids, your writer friends or, of course, for yourself! I think it will be on my list.

What's on your Christmas list? What cool writer's toys have you found?

Have You Hugged a Volunteer Today?

2007-10-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

So if you've been following the saga of my life over on my personal blog, you know that I was recently elected president of my local RWA chapter. I don't officially take office until January so this should be my "easy" time. Unfortunately it's not. We're redesigning our website, making changes in our meeting structure and appointing new positions. My new vice president is awesome - full of energy and new ideas - but every proposed change we make is sucking up my time. You all know I have young kids and I only have a two-hour window in the afternoons to write while the littlest one is napping. Since I've agreed to take over as chapter president, that two-hour window is being sucked up with RWA business and little to no writing is getting done.

Luckily, I'm a night owl and I generally get my best writing done after the Gremlins are all in bed. And once all of our changes are in place - new website's up and running, speakers have been scheduled, my VP gets over the excitement of her newfound power - hopefully we'll fall back on maintenance and won't be quite so busy. But between now and then we're all working hard (and probably more than one of my new officers is getting tired of the ten-thousand emails I send out every day).

I'm not sure how any of this happened, but when I was waffling over the decision to run or not, my friend and Intrigue writer, Alice Sharpe, told me it was my Star Wars moment: "This is one of those moments where you have to just step up and face your destiny." I hate to admit it (don't tell her), but she's a very wise woman. Certain people, I think, are destined to pitch in and dig deep when needed (all of my officers are like that). Sometimes they do it because others won't, but deep down I know its because they believe in the cause. They start RWA chapters because they believe writers need that connection with other writers (like Joan did), or they simply have a desire to give back (like any writer who runs for a national RWA office). I'm sure my hubby wishes the hours I've spent so far doing chapter business were bringing money into our bank account (so do I for that matter), but I do believe the long-term benefits will eventually outweigh the time suck I'm experiencing now.

There's no real point to this post except to say that if you are a writer and you're part of a writing chapter - RWA or not - take a moment to tell your officers how much you appreciate what they do for the group. A lot of what happens goes on behind the scenes. The same is true for any organization where the leaders are volunteers. We all know writing is often a lonesome and thankless profession. Sometimes, so is being an officer. So if you haven't hugged a volunteer yet today, go find one. Trust me when I say, you'll make their day.

Things I Learned from My Editor

2007-10-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

# of pages I have to edit daily this week to meet my deadline: 47.

Anyway, little lessons I've learned from the Editor Goddess.

1) Less can be more.

2) Sometimes, you need more. (As in, I'm too subtle with my suspense clues sometimes.)

3) You do not need a scene break each time you change POV. (I knew this one, but she lets me use it to my advantage and sometimes she suggests it, so . . .)

4) The world will not end if sometimes there isn't a comma where the MLA handbook says one should be.

5) Readers are harder on heroines than they are on heroes. (Well, I kinda knew this one, too, but it was nice to have it confirmed, even if I'm the odd one out there who will accept a less-than-sympathetic heroine and root for her to change . . .)

6) Never, ever give the reader an opportunity to put the book down. This is more than the obligatory "hook" at chapter's end -- it's every sentence, every scene.

7) Fact check, fact check, fact check.

8) Each new release can sell more of your backlist. (Suspected that, nice to know it's mostly true.)

I'm sure there are two more, but my brain is fried.

What writing lessons have you learned recently, from other authors, editors, agents? Do share!

Newsletter and Contest Info

2007-10-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a little information about my newsletter group. I've recently begun sending out a monthly newsletter. It includes news (of course) about my books, trivia tidbits, a monthly recipe, reviews and contest information.

In the files section of the group, you'll find The Cutting Room Floor (scenes that didn't make it into the final versions of my books). Coming soon will be a series of online reads available only to my newsletter subscribers (the first one kicks off October 31 -- a nice Halloween treat!).

Also, by subscribing, you're automatically entered for the contest celebrating the print release of my debut book, What Mattered Most. On December 1, I'll draw from all subscribers for a goodie basket including a signed copy of What Mattered Most and some Southern surprises.

Interested? Send a blank email to Linda_Winfree-subscribe at yahoogroups.com (you know what to do!).

Linda Winfree -- Sultry Southern Romantic Suspense
HIS ORDINARY LIFE -- Available now, Samhain Publishing
HOLD ON TO ME -- December 2007, Samhain Publishing
http://www.lindawinfree.com/

The Daunting Agent Search

2007-10-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

You’ve all heard the writer’s mantra: No agent is better than a bad agent.

Great concept in theory, but the truth is you don’t know you’ve got a bad agent until you already have the bad agent.

Beyond the recommendations on Predators and Editors, the heresay or experience of other authors, an article or two on the Internet giving you a few basic rules of thumb, you’re on your own when it comes to choosing an agent. Even if you land the big one—the one everyone raves about and covets, he/she may not fit your personality, may not have the same big picture for your author career as you have.

In my humble unpublished opinion, it’s a daunting task. Here you are, busting your ass everyday—writing, revising, developing, dreaming, growing, stretching, learning—and at the end of the day you have to choose another human being to garner you compensation for all your sweat and frustration and creation.

With mantras out there like no agent is better than a bad agent, it’s no wonder so many writers cringe, balk and procrastinate when it comes to securing a professional to represent their work.

And here I am again. After two years, I parted ways with my agent. Wonderful gal—personally, I adored her. Unfortunately—for both of us—I didn’t sell with her, and at some point you have to decide to move on.

I’m going at the search a little differently this time. I’m two years more experienced with several contest finalist credits to my name and a much better understanding of how the industry works.

My style has always been to cast a wide net. As a new writer without one writing credit to provide credibility, that’s what I did the first time around. I researched agents and sent queries to any and all agents whose profile stated that they accepted fiction. I figured my work fell into the category of fiction. I figured if they repped suspense they might be interested in romantic suspense. I figured romance wasn’t that far a leap from women’s fiction, etc.

After three manuscripts and 300+ rejections, I found an agent who loved my third story and saw some degree of potential in me. After talking with her over the phone and finding we had similar aspirations for my career, similar working styles and similar personalities, I accepted her offer of representation. She was young and new to the industry, but then so was I. I felt it was a fair risk-taking adventure for both of us.

This time around, I’m doing a different kind of research. I’m cross-referencing the agents who accept romance fiction with how many romance fiction they’ve sold, whether they’re taking on new clients or accepting unsolicited queries, what comments I can find about them via Predators and Editors and their general reputation within the romance community.

And I’ve created a tiered system to which I’ll submit, wait and continue to the next tier, most likely before I’ve heard back from the agents from the prior tier—we all know this industry moves like cold lava.

I’ll be posting my tiered agent list on my website when I get around to the redesign—probably over the holidays—with the criteria used to develop the placement.

Tools I’ve found useful in my search:

Agent Query: Great beginning, but not an all-encompassing list of agents representing a particular genre.
Internet Lists: In conjunction with Agent Query and research, I’ve discovered a few additional prospects.
Publishers Marketplace: Invaluable to know who’s selling what. I’ve discovered several agents working in romance who are not considered “romance agents”—some selling more romance than other well-known romance agents.
Predators and Editors: I believe this site gathers information via other authors, which can be biased, but over time I’ve come to realize it’s eerily accurate and depend on it when culling my lists.
Internet: A search on an agent's name can bring up a wealth of information as posted by other writers and authors who have dealt with that agent. Just remember, it’s all personal opinion—consider the source before basing a decision on their account.

Share your personal agent stories with us. How do you conduct your searches? How do you decide who you send your work out to? What successes or failures have you had?

The First To Fall

2007-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips lately, specifically her Stars/NFL series which a friend recommended to me. Fun, easy reading, and I really love SEP's characters. While there's generally no suspense (there was a minor suspense thread in the first book of the series), I find myself turning the pages faster and faster to get to the end. A sign of a great writer in my book.

After reading several in the series though - and a few of her books out of the series - I realized all of her books follow the same pattern. Guy and girl meet. Guy and girl fight attraction, have sex, deny their feelings, then the heroine realizes she's in love and it takes the hero a while to wise up to reality. In every book the heroine knows first. I suppose that's because generally women are more in touch with their feelings than men are, and often times it takes them a while to catch up to what we already know, but in life that's not always the case. I find myself wanting to read a book of hers where the hero knows he's head-over-heels in love with the heroine and she's the one dragging her feet.

I suppose this has more to do with me than it does what a story calls for. When I look back at my own work, nine times out of ten my hero is the first to fall and my heroine's slow on the uptake. There's just something really sexy about a guy who knows he's found the woman of his dreams and has to convince her of that fact. In fact, I like this concept so much, I'm not even sure I've written a book where the heroine falls first. (I think the proposal I just sent my agent might turn out to be a heroine-falls-first book, but it could very well change as I get more into it.)

What about you? In the books you read or write does the hero fall first or is it the heroine? What kind of stories are you drawn to?

Cops: Stranger than Fiction

2007-10-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

Monday, Elisabeth blogged on writing about cops. One of the reasons I'm so drawn to writing about the law enforcement field is the fact I spent the first half of my marriage immersed in it, via being married to a dedicated police officer. (I'm still married to him, but he left the career shortly before our first child was born. He's a miner now. Big swap!)

Yesterday, a classroom discussion sparked memories of the years my DH spent working in Florida. He was a K-9 officer trained in drug interdiction and later served a year as interim chief for a smaller department. His road time coupled with his desk job gave me insight as a writer into the layers and complexities of LE life as well as the impact it can have on an officer's home.

But that's not what I'm writing about today. Today, I thought I'd share with you some of those "I could never get away with that in a book" scenarios that actually happened during the DH's LE days.

1) Naked Guys Want Coffee, Too: DH gets a call about a disturbance at a local Holiday Inn. When he arrives, a man is standing in the foyer, a bed spread thrown over his head. DH looks at the night auditor, whom he knows well. Sam looks back at him and shrugs.

"He wants me to make him a pot of coffee."

DH is exasperated, rolls his eyes. "Make him one."

"But he's naked."

DH turns to naked guy wearing a bed spread over his head. Naked guy says, "You can't see me. I'm invisible."

Obviously, even invisible naked people go to jail for indecent exposure.

2) Alligators, alligators and more alligators, oh, my!

A wetland area backs up to the section of I-75 where we lived in Florida. Many times, traffic would have to be stopped on the highway while everyone waited for the department of natural resources officers to come remove huge gators from the highway.

One night the DH and his partner are checking the parking lot of a local motel. They see a young man furtively trying to stuff something into his car trunk. They stop.

The guy is trying to put a four-foot alligator in the trunk of a Honda Civic. He was planning to take it home to New Jersey with him after finding it in the parking lot. He changed his mind after DH informed him this was a felony.

Another night, DH and his partner chased a pair of would-be robbers on foot from a gas station. The men ran into the wetland area. DH and his partner stopped at the edge of the swamp. DH yells, "Keep running! Maybe we'll find all the pieces after the gators get you. Maybe not."

The men emerged, chagrined and pale, a few minutes later.

3) Rookies really do stupid things sometimes.

The poor kid in this story shall remain nameless to protect his identity (although I understand once he had some experience on him, he became a pretty good cop later). My husband was training him and kept lamenting that he wasn't the brightest bulb in the socket in terms of common sense.

The rookie was married and his wife insisted he unload his gun every night when he came home. (We won't discuss the night he left the bullets ON THE STOVE and they exploded . . .)

So a traffic stop involving a stolen car evolves into a tense situation in which guns are drawn (btw, if you write LE, please, please, please understand that drawing a gun is a BIG deal -- it isn't done lightly because if one fires a weapon, the investigation is huge and stressful, even if no one is shot -- there are entry situations where the gun is automatically out and in hand, but if your hero/heroine is drawing on a suspect and preparing to shoot -- they don't just fire indiscriminately).

Anyway . . . shots end up being fired at this traffic shot. Then DH realizes he's hearing click-click-click from the other side of the car.

Someone had forgotten to reload his gun before the beginning of the shift.

If I had unlimited space, I could tell you about . . .

a) Local women speeding on purpose so the good-looking deputies would pull them over.
b) The deputy who tried to cross the median during a high speed chase who got stuck in the mud and his car was inundated by hundreds of frogs.
c) What happened when one deputy was the first to reach the suspect in a high speed chase . . . after the deputy's brother (also a cop) had been injured in the same chase. (It's true that sometimes cops react like real people, instead of the trained professionals they are)
d) The time the drug helicopter crashed. Guess who's afraid of heights and who was on said helicopter when it crash-landed?!
e) Multiple trips to the emergency room, including one memorable incident in which the DH, a tad high on painkillers, kept asking for his gun so he could shoot the PA in the kneecap if he hurt him again while putting in thirty stitches (They were old friends. The PA laughed and asked if he was going to have to strap him down to finish.).
f) The crazy things cops do on a slow night when they're bored.
g) The fabulous ways they look out for each other when things go bad (i.e., the night DH chased a suspect on foot and lost his handheld on the way. When no one could reach him, half the officers from two departments showed up as backup.)

Yeah, I write about cops a lot. Like Joan, I worry sometimes that it gets old. But I think it's all in the execution -- it's the writing and the story and hopefully the realism that keeps it fresh.

And real.

Keeping It Fresh

2007-10-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Monday, E talked about writing cops, which got me thinking about something that’s been niggling at me for a while now—keeping my work fresh. Fresh, I suppose, might not be the correct term. Unique would be more accurate.

Look at any RS book and what do you find? Cops. Whether that be city, county, state, federal, you find cops. It makes sense. Law enforcement is an inherent part of meaningful conflict and tension when we’re writing about murder, rape, drugs, assault, theft, conspiracy, etc

I suppose there doesn’t have to be a strong LE presence in such situations—Elisabeth does a fine job of creating suspense using these elements with no cop in sight.

For me, the cop always takes the lead, elbowing their way into the spotlight. Hence, I write a lot of cops.

To keep things fresh, I’ve stretched into different rolls for my cops—sheriff, F.B.I., C.I.A. (I know—C.I.A. aren’t really cops, but you know what I mean.) I also do tweak my characters to make the story unique—or at least I try.

One of my detectives is a people reader. He has the highest case closure rate in the department because he’s studied body language, honed his intuition and used it to gather and uncover information.

In my current WIP, I’ve pitted the F.B.I. against the C.I.A. with my F.B.I. heroine dedicated to rules, regulations, step by step investigative techniques, never coloring outside the lines, and my C.I.A. hero entrenched in lies and aliases and manipulation as a way of life. How will they ever solve a case? How will they ever fall in love? How will they find a way to live together? I don’t know. I’m still waiting for them to tell me.

Of course this has all been done before. Jeffrey Deaver has a new novel out where the heroine interrogator is a kinesics specialist, and the way he depicts his heroine reading people through the story is both educational and entertaining. And pitting the hero against the heroine is surely nothing new—it’s called conflict.

Something I’ve been toying with lately is switching roles—take the male role and put it on the female—not all that difficult, but taking the female roll and placing it on the hero? When I attempt that, I’ll be taking on another challenge in my writing.

I’m coming to realize freshness is more a combination of elements rather than just one—character afflictions, conflict depth and origination, plot complexities and, of course, voice.

How do you keep the freshness and originality in your writing? What have you seen other writers do to attain their uniqueness? Which writers do you feel do this well?

Cops, Cops and more Cops

2007-10-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

The big joke amongst Joan, Lin and I is that while I write RS like both of them, I'm unique in the fact I don't write about cops. Actually, the truth is I have an aversion to writing about law enforcement (or, LE as Lin calls it). Most of my characters are normal people put into extraordinary circumstances, and while I may have LE (hey, did I use that right?) secondary characters who are important in pushing a story forward, I've (for the most part) avoided writing an entire book with an LE main character. Why? Simple.

I don't know nuthin' 'bout cops.

Okay, wait. That's not true. I know probably as much as the next person. I've been pulled over (but never frisked), I had to deal with the Co. Sheriff and the bomb squad in my last job (long story I won't bore you with), and I have a good friend who's married to a state cop. But I don't know enough about police officers to feel as though I can write about them effectively, and for that reason I've steered clear.

Until now.

My local RWA chapter put on a suspense conference on Saturday. We started with a ME and Sheriff's deputy who both work for Search & Rescue. They were funny, informative and easy to talk to. After lunch we had a state police detective who talked to us about crime scenes and procedures and gave us lots of fun slang. And after that we had three assistant district attorneys who took the information we learned earlier in the day and explained how they prosecute a case from the clues the police obtain.

It was informative, insightful and fun. And after the conference I went out to dinner with my friend and her state police husband and couldn't stop asking him questions. He was more than happy to answer anything I came up with, and hopefully one of these days I'll talk him into taking me out the firing range so I can play with his guns. In the meantime, this conference convinced me that I should definitely sign up for the local citizen's police academy to learn more, and in some way it's alleviated my worry about writing about police officers. There's a book I've been putting off writing because the hero is police detective. Maybe after all this I'll finally have the guts to write it.

What about you? Are there any topics you won't touch because you aren't sure you can write them well? And if so, what could you do to alleviate your worries?

Thank God for Rejection Letters!

2007-10-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

I was going to blog about reviews. I should probably still blog about reviews and whether or not reviews influence people to buy books.

But.

I thought I'd talk about how writing can prepare one for real life.

One thing I acquired pretty quickly when I started writing as a thick skin. Critiques. Rejections. You name it, it hurts, I had to learn how to slough it off.

I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for those fifty-plus rejection letters I have filed . . . somewhere. Because this week, the experience those letters represent has enabled me to pretty much slough off having something I worked very, very hard on (pretty much by myself, thank you very much) picked apart over several days, with more negative comments than positive. Granted, the last two feedback forms I found in my teacher box today did push me to the "Oh, my God, I'm going to cry now" point, but for the most part, I've shrugged off the criticism, looked for the nuggets of constructive feedback and moved on. A few years ago, before I suffered through "Not right for me" or "didn't love it enough" or "not special enough" or "not as special as other manuscripts under consideration" time after time after time, I'd probably have given in to those tears earlier. And they'd have lasted a lot longer.

So thank God for rejection letters!

What writing lesson has helped you in "real" life?

A Day Late & A Dollar Short

2007-10-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

...but maybe some good information none-the-less.

I've been looking at demographics lately, something I never thought would interest me.

I sought wisdom from a marketing professor for 30+ years at a nearby university, also a friend of mine, when I was putting together a website design presentation for my local RWA, and he turned my perspective on the topic 180 degrees.

I've always designed websites from the inside out, meaning I take what's inside me or inside the company or person I'm designing for and project outward. I create an image of the person or that company on that website from my (or my client's) perspective.

My professor friend urged me to look at it differently. He asked me all about my visitor--who he/she was, how old they were, their economic status, their health, their family life. He wanted me to know who would be coming to my site and suggested that the more I know about them, the more equipped I'd be to provide them with something that would satisfy as well as keep them coming back.

We all want that, right? For our visitors to come back to our website? That's the "stickiness" quotient everyone talks about.

And in looking at the demographics of my audience then, considering what that audience thinks about, worries about, needs, would appreciate, the way I looked at designing websites was forever changed.

My current website doesn't reflect these new-found kernels of wealth -- I have to redesign when I find time. But IMHO this is valuable information and put to use, a powerful tool that with "draw" people to your site rather than the common idea of "driving" traffic there.

Food for thought. What do you think? What are some of your favorite sites--ones that you return to for information? Why do you go back?

Slacker With A Capital "S"

2007-10-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

She was looking kind of dumb, with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an "L" on her forehead...

Be forewarned, people, it's not only for Shrek.

*sigh*

It's 9:17 pm. I knew I needed to blog earlier. I chose not to. I won't apologize. I've done that before. It gets old. I will, however, blame a certain dark-haired diva who has seen fit to torture me by giving me books she knows I will read beginning to end, thereby ignoring everything else in my life - including my computer which I can't live without on a normal day.

I plead insanity. This is what happens when you read a book you've been looking forward to for more months than you can count only to be so thoroughly disappointed you have to read everything else under the sun until you find something that makes you smile again. (No, diva, I won't go into how sucky that ending was again. I know you're sick of hearing me rant about it.) The solution to this problem though has created more havoc - the diva giving me a stack of books - contemporary romances, no less - that I seem to be hellbent on plowing through like there's no tomorrow. No suspense. No blood and guts. No people dying or guns going off or people running for their lives. Not even a hint of paranormal chaos to get my thinking about my recent proposal. No. These are straight forward romances with alpha males and kooky women. I already know how they're going to play out. The couple will meet. One will do something pretty awful to the other. They'll be thrust together. They'll fight. They'll make up. They'll have sex. Someone will cry (I prefer when it's him and not her). One will walk away. Then they'll make up and live happily ever after. And yet I keep reading.

That to me is a sign of a good book. Or series. Or writing. And I've almost forgotten about how horrible that first book was I couldn't wait to read.

I know we talk about suspense a lot here, but do you like to read straight contemporaries? And what do you do when you read a particularly horrific book - esp. when it's something you've been looking forward to? How do you get that awful taste out of your mouth?

What Gets in the Way

2007-09-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

That's the talk prompt over on the RWC list this week. It's timely, too, since I have done nothing writing-related since, um, Tuesday. I think. Possibly Wednesday. Hey, what day is it anyway?

Here's the deal: It's Homecoming week at school. I'm the SGA advisor. That means I'm planning the entire spirit week activities plus the dance. Oh, and I'm a senior sponsor, so I'm fearlessly leading the seniors through said activities. I'm taking care of my two Monsters, who must have spirit stuff for each day as needed. I've attended softball and cross country meets.

Did I mention my edits on Hold On To Me are due Monday?!

Luckily I planned ahead and worked steadily on said edits until I finished them earlier this week. I knew once Wednesday got here, that would be all she wrote! So one more read and tweak and I can probably send the manuscript to my editor with a happy heart.

What about you? Anything getting in the way? Or are you happy sailing, writing-wise?

You Know You're a Writer When...

2007-09-26T06:32:00.001-07:00

I've compiled these comments from various sources, including my own head. Are you a writer? How many of these do you do? Can you add to the list?

You know you're a writer when...

An idea strikes you while driving on the Los Angeles 405 freeway and you traverse 4 lanes of traffic to get to the side of the road to write it down so you don't lose it.
You spend more time with your characters than your family and friends.
You'd RATHER spend more time with your characters than your family and friends.
You have relationships with fellow writers you've met over the internet than you do with flesh and blood friends who've been around you for years.
You stop talking about writing subjects with non-writers because their level of misunderstanding and underestimation is painful to you.
You've given over an entire wall of your bedroom four your latest WIP storyboard.
When in public, you listen more to everyone around you than the person you're with.
You have a momentary reality lapse and mention your characters’ situation as a prayer request in Sunday school.
You find yourself punishing your characters for bad behavior -- "Well, if you're going to act like that, I'll go clean the bathroom. You won't get that love scene today."
You analyze the look, dress, mannerisms and speech of everyone you come in contact with.
When talking with others, you mentally edit their dialogue and compose tags and beats.
While observing, you constantly shake your head and mutter to yourself, "Truth is stranger than fiction. I could never get away with writing that in my book."
When you're "in the zone" you forget to pick up your kids from school/practice/friend's house.
A stint of not writing makes you harder to live with than the worst bout of PMS.
Your characters start altering your plans and changing your destinations in real life.
You start a fight with your husband just so you can study the body language of anger.
You know the research librarian’s office, cell, and home phone numbers but can’t remember your own.

What are some other signs that you're a writer?

Shifting Gears

2007-09-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

A more apropos title for this blog is Waiting Sucks, but I had a feeling that wouldn't be politically (or writingly?) correct, so I ditched it in favor of what I'm doing. Switching gears while I wait.

In the last two weeks I've finished a couple of big projects. Sent a full ms to my agent, which I've yet to hear back on, and finished a proposal I'm very excited about. I sent said proposal to my CPs and want to get their feedback before I zip it off to my agent. (*Ahem* No Pressure or anything girls. Not like I'm waiting with bated breath here or anything....) The problem? The proposal is in a genre I don't normally write, so I don't want to write the full until I get a nod from my agent as to whether or not she thinks it has a chance to sell. It would be a waste of my time. In addition to that, because I just sent her a full, the odds of having her get back to me right away on the proposal are pretty dismal. I'd love to say, "Hey! Read the proposal first and tell me if I should keep going with it!" But I'm not sure that would fly.

So in the meantime, I'm left in a quandary. Keep writing on the proposal and see where it takes me? I'm in that mindset. But what if the idea flops? Then I'm wasting my time. My other option is to totally switch gears and start a new proposal for an RS idea I have. But jumping from one idea/genre to another is messing with me right now, especially when all I want to do is keep working on the first.

This isn't an issue I've really had to deal with before, though I know it's something published authors do all the time. Write a proposal, send it off, wait to hear, work on something else. It's a new concept for me to work around. Just about the time a proposal is done I'm getting to know my characters so well all I want to do is keep writing their story.

How do you write? Do you write proposals or fulls? Do you wait to get a nod, yay or nay, before you move on, or do you not care? Have you ever written a full only to have a CP, agent or editor tell you, after the fact, it didn't work? And if you do write proposals and switch gears as you wait, any tips or tricks for jumping from one project to another so you don't go loco?

It's All Nick's Fault

2007-09-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

If I tell you what kind of reading glom I've been on lately, you'll never believe me.

M/M romance.

I'm blaming it on the Nick Carraway/Jay Gatsby discussion going on in my classroom constantly (hey, there are serious critics who argue that Nick is gay and secretly in love with Gatsby).

Actually, I picked up a handful of m/m romances from Samhain because a) they were summer short reads and b) I'd read reviews and comments about them (as well as excerpts on the Samhain Cafe loop).

Let me say that Nick Carraway and his unreliable narration and possible suppressed homosexuality aside, I've never read much gay/lesbian romance. (Does D. H. Lawrence's Women In Love count? There was the naked wrestling scene . . .) And I knew that most m/m romance is written by straight women for straight women.

So here's what I found:

1) Good writing is good writing. Doesn't matter if it's straight romance, romantic suspense, gay/lesbian romance . . . if the writer has mastered the craft, the reader is in for a great time.

2) It's really important, if you write men, gay or straight, to make your men sound like . . . men. Really.

3) In regular or gay romance . . . there has to be a strong conflict and a great plot. Sex scenes strung together do not a great read make.

4) Romance is romance. Good writing is good writing. Oh, wait, I already said that, didn't I? But it's true. Don't believe me? Go read KA Mitchell's Custom Ride. Her prose is to-die-for and the romance she crafts between the two male leads is incredible. She has all of the above -- 1, 2, and 3.

What about you? Are you a reader of gay romance? Or is outside your comfort zone?

Musing on the Muse

2007-09-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Just back from a mini-conference over the weekend where I took a course called Mining the Muse from Mary Hershey.

Confession: I don't have a muse. I've never had a muse. I don't even understand the terminology or ideology or any other ology to it.

Okay, I actually do understand the mythology behind it because Mary explained that the word muse comes from Greek mythology and relates to a sisterhood of goddesses who embody the arts and inspire the creation process.

So, now I know where it comes from, but not much else. And I still don't have one -- not a solid depiction of one in my mind anyway. Evidently, most people have some sort of mental image of their muse--one that typically develops organically without much effort on the author's side.

Linda's muse is a Cheetos-eating, sweatpants-wearing...um, I'm not sure what it/he/she is actually. And I believe it/he/she changes depending on mood. (Lin, you'll obviously have to expand on this and fix my blunders.)

Elisabeth's muse is a cargo pant, army-boot clad woman who kicks ass and takes names. (E, you'll obviously have to expand on this and fix my blunders.)

Me...zip.

Mary explained the muse-author relationship, where the author does the heavy lifting--creates and sticks to a schedule, honors the creative process, feeds him/her/it, while the muse kicks back with a glass of wine, spewing inspiration when the mood strikes. Mary also gave tips on how to cultivate your muse, then connect with it regularly.

I'm trying. Not seeing much in the way of results yet, but I'm still trying.

Do you have a muse? What does he/she/it look and act like? When does your muse come to you? How do you tap into it? Give us the scoop on your muse!

Levels of Sensuality

2007-09-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

J and I were chatting via IM today about our current WIPs. After she dumped me to go pay the bills (apparently bills are more interesting than I am), I sat down to work on my book. The scene I had planned in my head, however, didn't end up the way I'd envisioned.

This has happened to me before and I'm sure it's happened to you as well. You have a scene mapped out but when you start writing something happens and the scene goes in a whole new direction. This wasn't quite like that though. No, the scene went where I wanted it to go, it just did it in a very different way than I'd planned.

I consider myself a sexy writer. There's a high level of sensuality in my books, more so the more I write I'm finding out. This book, however, while I knew it was going to be more erotic than the rest, has totally surprised me. The scene I'd planned to be slightly sultry turned very hot, very fast. If someone had told me I was going to write this book this way, I'd have said they were crazy. But for some strange reason, it seems to fit the tone and characters, so I'll probably let it go and see what happens as I get deeper into it (no pun intended there).

It's funny. My CP sent me an older book I'd reworked recently and asked her to read. This morning I had that document open and was looking at her comments. I love this story. The romance is very deep and emotional. But there's only one love scene in the entire book and in all honesty, it's not that hot. But to be truthful, that book didn't need to be hot. The romance didn't call for it. I flipped to the WIP while I was looking at my CPs comments on the older book and choked a laugh. The book I'm working on now is a completely different level of sensuality and yet I love both books and both styles.

What about you? Do your books tend to stay on the same sensuality plane? Or do yours vary from one story to another depending on your characters and what the tone calls for?

The Autobuy

2007-09-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

Isn't it amazing how an author's work can vary in quality from piece to piece? I have an author who is basically an auto-buy -- I might not pick up the new titles immediately, but eventually, I buy everything this writer puts out.

The last two books I'd purchased had been rather disappointing -- a little so-so, more sex than story, almost like they'd been rushed to production.

But I bought the latest release anyway. And I'm so glad I did -- a rich plot, great characters, sizzling conflict. This book was every reason why I can't stay away from this author.

What about you? Any autobuy authors whose work you must have, even if sometimes it disappoints?

Websites for Authors...Part II

2007-09-12T19:51:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm on my other computers where my bookmarks are, so I can point out some author sites I really like and tell you why I like them. Then you can give me your opinion -- on those or others.

(And, no, I don't know any of these authors. I found their sites by surfing.)

Lorie O'Clare

The color scheme is soothing yet intriguing
The design is sharp and clean
Dual navigation is nice
Book cover within sight right away--no scrolling needed
The popout menu is interactive and interesting w/o being annoying
Easy, direct link to more book info and purchansing direction

Claudia Dain

The color scheme is pleasing, the swirling designs romantic
Appreciate how the design is prominant at the top of the page but fades as more content comes in -- keeps the page crisp
Her author photo is professional and small
Her book covers fanned across the top tell us she's prolific, successful
The touch of Flash is just enough to be fun but not overwhelming or problematic for browser issues
Navigation is clear
Books (subsequent pages) are organized by genre
Love the little FYIs in the margins on various pages
Love that her photo album relates to her writing, not something completely out of the blue, like her pet hampster

Pamela Brittan

Talk about theme and branding -- this is an excellent example. She carries the NASCAR theme through in her color scheme, her style, her design elements, her navigation, even right down to her checkered shirt
Her navigation is idiot-proof
Her pages are clear, simple and crisp
And, damn, they load FAST

Those are it for now. I'll add a few more tomorrow.

Post links to your favorite sites in the comments and be sure to tell us what you like about them.

Websites for Authors

2007-09-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

I’m creating a presentation for my local RWA on website design for authors, and I could use your input.

My life has been steeped in design from art in high school to a design major in college and a career as a designer after college before changing careers to the medical field. Then when I needed to indulge my artsy side once again, I trained in website design.

I worked as a web developer for four years with large corporations and many years, before and after, independently creating more freestyle sites for various companies and individuals.

So, while designing and implementing website style and content comes naturally to me, when I sit down to define the steps of the process so that someone without a technical background can grasp the big picture, I feel like I've slipped on a straight jacket.

Creating an author website is multi-faced, far more complex than creating a business website because while you're selling a product--your book--you're also communicating your personality, your genre, your brand. And I'm struggling to get that big picture and all there is to consider into a helpful snapshot for a 90 minute workshop.

Since those of you who visit here are web-savvy and so many of your either have your own website or blog, I'd love to get your input. If you can answer any of the questions I've listed, I'd appreciate it and will weave your information into my presentation. Once completed, I'll also post the presentation on my website for all to access.

What are some big DOs for an author website?

What are some big DON'Ts for an author website?

How did you create your website (yourself or hired help)?

If yourself, what program did you use and how did you learn it?

If you hired out, what service/company did you use?

If you hired out, what DOs and DON'Ts can you offer regarding the process?

Do you think agents/editors look at author's websites? Can you give examples?

Which author websites do you love? What do you love about them?

Please feel free to offer whatever other information, thoughts, opinions, examples you'd like on the subject.

I'll be adding links to some of my favorite sites and explaining why I feel they are effective in the comments section as well -- so check back for more info.

Thanks for your help!

Shhh!

2007-09-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Don't tell. I'm stealing Elisa's day to post.

Because His Ordinary Life is now available and I want to shout about it.

I love Del. I love his story. I loved writing about his conflict and his love for his children and his love for the wife he believed didn't want him anymore.

I love marriage in jeopardy stories and after rewriting the book this summer, that's what this baby is.

I love, love, love it. And I want others to love it too.

Okay, I'll stop gushing now and post my blurb . . .

Reunited by their teenage son’s possible involvement in a murder . . . their new needs and old passions are destined to explode.

His Ordinary Life by Linda Winfree
Book Two of the Hearts of the South series.

Del Calvert has spent his life in quiet desperation, trying to meet everyone’s expectations and feeling like he never quite measured up. From his teens, Barb was everything he wanted and needed, but knowing he wasn’t enough for her drove him out of the marriage.

Barbara Calvert is afraid to need anyone—especially the soon-to-be-ex husband she still loves. She’s reluctant to fall under his seductive spell of love and security once more.

But when their son’s secrets threaten his life, everything changes. Del must help his son as unseen and threatening forces move ever closer, putting the entire family at risk. And along the way, he hopes to convince Barbara to give him one more chance to win back the wonderful, ordinary life he didn’t appreciate until it was gone.

You can find an excerpt at the Samhain website here: http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/his-ordinary-life.

I'll leave you with a snippet of an excerpt . . .

Leaning up, Barbara covered his mouth with hers, cutting off his words, and he was lost, drowning in sensations he’d starved for the last few months.

She cradled his face, her lips teasing the corner of his. The clean essence of her surrounded him, a mingling of citrus, soap and woman. When she eased her tongue over his bottom lip, he hardened. A groan rumbled from deep in his throat.

“Barb,” he whispered, and as his mouth parted, she darted her tongue inside. At the taste of her, his knees threatened to give. He reached for her, gripping her waist and pulling her closer. Her body aligned with his, fit him with the same perfection as always. “God, I’ve missed you.”

He muttered the words into her mouth, sliding his hands lower to cup her bottom and lift her against him. She moaned and wound her legs around his thighs, the counter supporting her weight. Holding his shoulders, she urged him even closer and sucked his lower lip into her mouth, nipping him lightly. The sensation of pleasure-pain shot to his groin and he rocked into her.

With a rough laugh, he rested his palms on the counter on either side of her. Her head tilted back under his kisses, she tugged his shirt from his jeans. “Take it off.”

“Baby, you know where this is headed,” he murmured between kisses, her fingers leaving trails of fire on his skin. “Are you sure?”

“Take it off, Del.” She shoved the shirt up, helping him shrug out of it. Once it hit the floor, she fanned her hands over his chest, shaping the muscles, tracing the line of his ribcage. She ran a single finger along the scar bisecting his left pec, and he closed his eyes. Over the years, she’d done the same thing countless times, but this once, the simple caress brought tears to his eyes. She pressed a kiss there and he moaned, swaying closer. This wasn’t really happening. In a second, he’d wake up and find it was simply another dream.

Theme Songs

2007-09-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of writers who can't start a book until they have a title. Some can't write without knowing their characters first, middle and last names. Some can't even begin typing until they've got character sketches done in full. None of those are me.

There is one thing I have to have before I start writing though. A theme song.

Yeah, yeah, I know, call me weird, but with every book I write, there's one song that fits the story to a T. If you listen closely to the lyrics you will see my characters, their struggle and what they're going through. It's different than a playlist. It's one song that is "them". Sometimes I know that song before the story starts, sometimes it comes to me shortly thereafter.

The theme songs for my last few books have been:

DTM:

MMB:

BP:

BTS:

V:

So here I sit, starting a new book. I'm in the middle of chapter two and it's hit me. I don't have a theme song yet! I know before much longer, I'll be on the hunt.

Anyone else out there have theme songs or am I just totally weird? And if you do, share what your theme songs have been.

I've Been Outed

2007-09-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

In a really, really good way.

As I mentioned yesterday, What Mattered Most is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

I emailed my friend Mary, the school counselor.

Mary proceeded to send the link to everyone in her email address book. That included every teacher at school and God only knows who else (Mary has quite the connections!).

Want to guess how many times I've talked about my upcoming releases today?

It's been a little disconcerting, but at the same time, it's been so much fun to talk about John and Lanie with people and then to segue to my other books. Everyone is genuinely excited for me and interested in what I do. (And maybe I'll sell more books!)

I can see now I need a small collection of promo brochures or postcards with my title and release info on them to hand out in said conversations.

Being outed was a really neat way to top off a less-than-nice week.

So . . . have I told you about my books yet?

Shameless Promo (And Contest)

2007-09-06T03:34:00.000-07:00

What Mattered Most is now available for pre-order through Amazon! I'm still grinning.

What Mattered Most, my first novel from Samhain, received Five Lips from Tara Renee at Two Lips Reviews. In part, Tara said, "I could not put this book down and I know that anyone who reads it will find it as magnificent as I do." You can read the rest of her comments here: http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2142&Itemid=36.

Sandra Paquet at Gotta Write Network also recently reviewed John and Lanie's story and awarded it five out of five "ever afters". Here's part of what she had to say: "An emotionally charged plot, tortured characters who live and breathe on the page - what more could you want?" You can find her review here: http://www.gottawritenetwork.com/ReviewsBySandra2.html (you have to scroll down to each review).

You can find the blurb and excerpt for What Mattered Most here: http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/what-mattered-most.

Also, I'm really excited that His Ordinary Life is releasing in five days from Samhain! To celebrate, I'm throwing a contest.

Here's the contest deal:

The three prizes I'm giving away:

1) A $5.00 Samhain gift certificate (MBAM)
2) Ebook version of your choice -- What Mattered Most
3) Ebook version of your choice -- Truth and Consequences

How to Enter: Read through the two excerpts from His Ordinary Life found at my Yahoo group (in the files section) as well as the excerpt at the Samhain website. Find the answers to THREE of the contest questions below. Copy the questions you're answering into a blank email and provide the correct answer for each question. Send to linda_winfree at yahoo dot com (you know what to do) with SAMHAIN CONTEST in the subject line.

Contest runs through Monday night (9/10/07), 9:00 PM EST. At that time, I'll draw a winner for each prize from those providing the correct answers and post the winners here as as well as at my blog, lindawinfree.blogspot.com.

The Questions:

1) Where does Del have a scar? (Yahoo group excerpt)
2) How many children do Barb and Del have? (Yahoo group excerpt)
3) What did Del drive before the Porsche? (Yahoo group excerpt)
4) What is Del's brother's name? (Yahoo group excerpt)
5) In the Samhain website excerpt, what memory sends Del after Barbara for one more try?

Remeber, the questions and excerpts are posted in the files section of my newsletter group at Yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linda_winfree).

(And if you're a member of the Samhain Cafe, the Yahoo group excerpts are in the archived messages there from my last list mom day, Sept. 4).

Pornography vs. Romance?

2007-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Picture the setting: Ninety five degrees, just starting to cool down with the sun setting, four couples (friends for many, many years) sitting around eating pizza and salad, all our kids, ranging in age from 18 to 8, in the pool.

There are about 3 different coversations going on at any one time, conversations that shift direction like the wind, drawing in different participants and tossing out others.

Something along the lines of..."That's great book material. Joan, you could write a story around...blah, blah, blah". Of course what always happens in this situation is that others piggyback onto the idea. "Oh, yeah, and then blah, blah, can blah, blah." Etc., etc.

Somewhere in the merry-go-round of ridiculous ideas my friend says, "blah, blah, like that porno scene in your first book, blah, blah...etc."

Whoa! I say, "Porno? I don't write porno. There is no porno in any of my books."

She laughs it off and says, "Well, pretty close."

And then the wind blows and the conversation shifts in a completely different direction.

Now, more than 24 hrs later, I'm still smarting from that completely unintentionally offensive comment. I know her, and I know it was just something that came out in relation to whatever bizzare, unimportant conversation we were having at the time in which nothing really mean anything. (Although I often wonder if "slips" like that mean more than not.)

And it got me thinking...I am rather descriptive in my love scenes. (I'm feeling the need for a little justification here -- is my insecurity showing?) Not more descriptive, mind you, than some of my peers. Definitely not more descriptive than some published RS authors I've read.

And that thought quickly digressed into, am I writing porno? When my friends read my books (when my books get published, of course) will they think it's porno? Will I be known around town as the woman who writes those porno suspense books? (That's going to be a new genre by the time I get published.)

I guess I never considered this topic because I don't write erotica -- and erotica novelists are typically the ones fighting the battle over perception of erotica vs. porn.

There's that typical argument among writers that "if the characters grow and change during a love scene, it has a purpose and is therefore not gatuitous sex (i.e. porn)". But what about a reader's perspective? They aren't pulling scenes apart and analyzing them for the character's emotional growth. They're seeing sex. They might think it's "meaningful" sex, but still...

I don't know. I'm a little confused on the topic.

What's your view? Have you ever had to justify the level of sexual content in your novels so you didn't look like some sex addict using writing as a hobby to fulfill your strange fantasies? Or is that something you've never even considered?

Happy Labor Day!

2007-09-03T18:55:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone had a fabulous end-of-summer bash today. So hard to believe summer is winding down. Where did the time go?

This is my favorite holiday. :) Because it means the kidlets go back to school this week!

Everyone all together now...

Hallelujah!!!!

Funny how times have changed. When I was teaching it used to me my least-fav holiday because it meant my summer was over and I was heading back to work.

What's your favorite holiday and why?

Taking Up the Challenge

2007-08-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

Yes! The long weekend is here!

I'm hoping to make lots of progress on the WIP, Facing It. I'm at just over 50K, about 60% of the way to my targeted word count.

Back in July, I started the 70 Days of Sweat challenge. Before school started, I did pretty well -- doing at least 1200 words daily. I wrote almost 50% of the book in about five weeks.

School, which isn't just teaching, but coaching, advising, grading, etc. as well as dealing with my own children's homework, has pretty much kept me from writing 1200 words daily during the week. I do try to write daily, I promo daily, and I write more on the weekends.

And I have 60% of a novel I didn't have two months ago.

The point is this -- I'm not going to finish this book by the end of the 70 days challenge. But I should finish it within the next couple of months (barring any HUGE unforseen events. I've learned those come out of nowhere sometimes). But I learned that with a block of non-school time, I can steadily produce a set word count per day. And I've learned that even with the school stuff, I can make steady progress if I set my mind to it.

Are you participating in the 70 Days challenge? Or in Elisabeth and Joan's challenge? I know nanowrimo is coming up and that many people participate in this. What have you learned from any writing challenges you've taken part in?

The Process

2007-08-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

It varies for every writer. And, I'm discovering, it varies within each writer.

This was the Talk Prompt topic for my local RWA group at the last meeting. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to cover it. I'm hoping some of the girls will pop in and offer their comments here. *nudge*

But it's also something I've been thinking about a lot lately, as I begin a new novel.

Everything with this story is different.

I'm allowing myself to write a shitty first draft--something I hadn't been able to do in the past.
I'm writing without a clear picture all the way through--it gets murky around the 2/3 point.
I'm engaging my CPs (and anyone who is interested) in a writing challenge--I've always wrinkled my nose at any kind of imposed writing goals.
I'm making it up as I go along--I'm typically an avid plotter.
I'm mixing POVs with third person h/h and secondary characters, but first person villain--I've never even considered writing first person.

And as I see all the differences I'm employing with this book and as I discussed with Elisabeth recently, I've discovered that process changes as we change, as our writing changes, as our goals change.

What changes have you seen in your process over the years? Or do you have a tried and true method that you love--or hate? Share with us how you get from concept to completion.

Mandatory Reading

2007-08-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

The middle school my boys go to is starting something new this year--mandatory silent reading time each day from 2:15-2:45 when they leave to go home. If the kids don't bring a book to read, they have to make up the reading time in detention the following day after school. I really have mixed feelings about this. I know there are a lot of kids (and adults) who don't read at all. My youngest is an avid reader, but the other two are reluctant to different degrees. They do read, just not as much as I'd like them to. This could be a way to jump start reading in kids who might not do much of it now.

Even though I'd like to see them reading more, it bugs me a little that the school is starting this program. It takes away from classroom time, which the school system here needs according to the past years' scores on the state tests the kids all have to take. Even more than this, I'm not sure I like the idea of punishing them with a detention if they don't bring a book. I just think it could be counterproductive to the school system's cause, especially at a middle school level where kids are discovering they really enjoy challenging authority. ;) It seems to me that if kids associate reading with punishment, they aren't going to want to do it once they get out of school. Not really the way to foster a lifelong love of books.

What do you think of programs like this in schools--good idea or bad idea?

Distractions

2007-08-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

What kind of writing distractions can you put up with and still be productive? Kids being loud nearby? Dog barking? Cat begging for attention? Can you write with music? The TV on? Noise in the kitchen? Can you keep IM on while you work, can the Internet be on or is that too much of a temptation? Can you tune things out or do distractions drive you wonky?

I'm learning I need quiet to be productive. I need the Internet because as I write I come across stupid research questions like the name of this street or a trendy restaurant in this town. I don't like to come back to those details later. I'd rather get them right in the first draft. I can't really write with music, though music inspires plots and characters in my head before I sit and write. The dog barking makes me want to slit my wrists, the kids screaming is too much for me to handle and as for the cat? Well, thank God we don't have one. In the evenings when the house is quiet and I CAN write, I do occasionally keep IM on so I can bug my CPs with research questions that pop up. And of course, there's always that food in the kitchen tempting me to give up the writing and go get a snack...

So how many distractions - and what kinds - can you handle and still be productive?

DEAR Revelations

2007-08-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

This year, we're doing a DEAR period at school. For you non-teachers, that means DROP EVERYTHING AND READ.

For twenty minutes daily, everyone on campus reads. I was a little antsy at first, even though I'd been a strong proponent of adding this to our day, simply because I'd done this at other schools and fighting reluctant readers for twenty minutes is not my idea of a good time.

But. The teaching gods have blessed me this year. I have kids who like (and many who love) to read in my DEAR group, so I can read, too, instead of standing over them with a whip and making them read.

So my DEAR book so far has been Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The fun part is, I get to read it as a reader. I have twenty minutes to just read and I'm not taking the book apart the way I do when I have longer periods to read.

I'd read The DaVinci Code a couple of years ago, liked it, but thought Brown spent too much time showing off his research. It's still there in A&D, but I'm liking this story much better.

And today, I could really see why Brown is the success he is. He's not a fabulous writer. I'm not sighing over his prose and the characterization is less-than-deep. Sometimes there is too much explanation.

But man, can this guy tell a story.

A fast-paced, gotta-turn-the-page, what-'s-going-to-happen-next story. He keeps the action moving and doesn't give me time to get bored or even to laugh at the sometimes laughably less-than-deep characterization.

As a writer, I really can't maintain that kind of break-neck pace, although sometimes I wish I could (I have had this idea for a while about a story that takes place during a 24-hour period, but do you know how hard that would be to pull off?!).

As a reader, I'm loving it.

What about you? Any authors who maybe aren't master craftsmen, but are master storytellers? Let's dish.

Just For Fun

2007-08-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

I know many of you have seen this before, but it's been a while for me, and I was in the mood for a good laugh. Lots of new covers posted, so be sure to continue to scroll down if you want a good chuckle.

Longmire Does Romance Novels

Also be sure to take a look at these extra submissions turned in by readers. What a hoot!

Moving...

2007-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry I missed my post last week--between the stress of the new job, writing, and an upcoming move, I think I took on too much and ended up getting sick. I just haven't been sleeping, because no matter how tired I am, the second my head hits the pillow all I can think about is how much I need to pack...and how much I should probably throw away.

The move is really going to be a good thing, even though I hate moving and after the last time (9 years ago) I swore I'd never do it again. ;) It's a better school system for the kids, a much better and safer neighborhood, and it's only 10 minutes down the street so they can still see their friends as much as they want. The only problem is the packing. It's amazing how much stuff a family can obtain in a decade. We're looking at being out of this place and into the new one around the middle of September, and already I've been going through closets (and under the kids' beds) throwing away so much. We have 3 bags of clothing to donate, and I'm anticipating at least half a dozen more.

I really doubt I'll be getting much writing done in the next few weeks. ;) I have a couple small stories under contract or requested that I need to get finished this week, but after that, I think I'll take a break. The kids go back to school next week, so that will give me time to start going through things and packing up the kitchen and living room. Growing up, my family moved every 4 years or less, so I should be used to it. But I'm finding it's different as an adult, especially the only adult in the house.

Anyone have tips on making moving go smoothly?

Self-Inflicted Torture

2007-08-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's official. After this book is done, I am never EVER writing another reunion story.

Ugh. I'm losing eyelashes right and left.

Any other writers out there have trouble with these stories? Reunion stories are my FAV's to read. I love them. There's something magical about two people who found love, lost it and then found it again together. You can't help but root for a hero who lost the woman he loved and realizes she's the only one in the world for him. Writing them though? Ack! A whole different story.

The WIP is a classic reunion story. Lots of mistrust. Lots of heartache over something that happened in the past. Lots of misunderstanding that, had the hero and heroine really known each other the first time, never would have been an issue. Because I've read so many different reunion stories, I know there are as many varied ways to write a reunion story as there are reunion stories out there. Some writers use flashbacks. Some weave backstory in with "memory" paragraphs here and there. Some start a book in the past, write the past as the present for a few chapters then skip ahead to the present and the real story when they get back together. Still others weave the two together.

One of the most compelling reunion stories I read was To The Brink by Cindy Gerard. A divorced woman is kidnapped and the only man she can turn to to save her is her ex-husband. In order to understand their romance though and invest the reader in the story, the writer blended the past and present. She'd write one chapter in the present (as the hero's trying to save her), one in the past that chronicled their love affair. It sounds odd, but I found myself turning pages faster and faster. I needed to know what happened in the present and how he rescued her. I needed to know how they fell in love and ultimately what broke them up because his desire to rescue her in the present was so strong. I'd never read a book written that way, but it totally worked.

As I sit here working on my self-inflicted torture device (AKA: The book from hell), I'm seriously contemplating how I'm getting the past into the present. At the moment I have those pesky memory/internal paragraphs as each character thinks back about the other. I even have (gasp!) a flashback here or there. Purists will say both of these techniques slow pacing, but in a reunion story, I think you have to use what works. If your readers aren't interested in the characters' first love affair and knowing why it ended, they aren't going to be interested in the current one.

So, what's your preference...as both a reader and writer? Do you read or write reunion stories? What have you found that works? What have you found that doesn't work?

Random Lines from HIS ORDINARY LIFE

2007-08-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

Saw someone else do this while paging through the first lines posted at the Samhain Cafe (oh, my heavens, they were good -- by the way, I bought books). Thought it would make a fun little Friday post.

Eleven pretty random lines from His Ordinary Life (coming September 11).

1) Her son wasn’t supposed to turn into Rosemary’s baby overnight, either.

2) Years ago, room 704 had been D-2, lair of the crustiest, most crotchety English teacher to ever draw breath in the state of Georgia, Mrs. Evelyn Adkins.

3) Cold showers were a joke. Arms braced on the counter, head lowered, he concentrated on stifling the unfulfilled desire. Amortization schedules. The cost of new tires for his car. Batting averages for last year’s Braves.

4) They were alone in the deepest hours of the night and she wanted nothing more than to pull him off to bed just once more.

5) “I want you back.”

6) When Del found him, that someone was going to be one dead son of a bitch.

7) He was going to die from the expectancy, but, Lord, what a way to spend his last moments.

8) “What is that on your neck?” With two fingers, Tick pushed Del’s chin up as she entered the room. A slow grin spread over Tick’s face.
“Would you quit?” Del shoved his brother’s hand away with an irritable shrug.

9) “A stupid sick bastard.” Cookie joined them, holding aloft an evidence bag. “Don’t people watch those true crime shows?”

10) “Come hold me for a while.”

11) “It’s raining, and every damn time it rains, she’s in my head again. I’m tired of thinking about her. I’m tired of hurting. I figure if I find enough to do, I’ll forget.”

Write-offs for Writers

2007-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's not tax time. In fact, it's not even close. But at our last chapter meeting, a member who owns three small businesses with her husband, generously offered her valuable knowledge about taxes and how they can and do benefit those who take deductions. Never too soon, right?

I was very interested because I don't write my writing off. I was under the impression that I wasn't making any money, so I couldn't write anything off.

She set me straight right away...about that and about a lot of other things. So I thought I'd share those thoughts with you and hopefully, you can share your knowledge and experience in this area with us. So when April rolls around, we'll all be well ahead of the curve.

Here are some highlights:

As a writer, you run a business—the business of writing. And as a business, you are entitled to write off expenses related to that business.

If you treat your writing as a business, that attitude will carry over into your life and affect how you view your writing, how others view your writing and ultimately how successful you are as a writer.

Some of those expenses may include:
o Paper
o Ink
o Office supplies
o Writing magazines (i.e., Writer’s Digest)
o Writing related subscriptions (i.e., netflix, Publishers Marketplace)
o Writing related memberships
o Craft books
o Books in your genre
o Movies
o Camera and film
o Digital recorder
o Software programs
o Travel to locations for research
o Meals during travel for research
o Mileage for auto travel for research
o Depreciation of office equipment (i.e., computer, fax, copier, camera)

The list is as personal as your writing. Anything that touches your writing life is potentially deductible. Start watching where you spend money and what you could write off your taxes…you’re giving your money away to the government if you don’t.

The home office caveat
o This is an IRS red flag for audit
o When deducting a home office, the space must be a separate room in your house.
o Several other restrictions fall in a gray area
· A bed is not allowed, but a daybed is okay.
· A closet is reportedly not allowed, but probably okay anyway
· The space cannot be used for other purposes

Keep records.
o Jodi uses Quicken, which allows her to scan her receipt for attachment to her records.
o IRS says keep your records indefinitely
o Jodi keeps hers for 10 years

Mileage
o There is a great article on deducting mileage in the July 07 RWR.
o The mileage allowance is currently 48.5 cents per mile – that adds up quickly.
o Get a mileage record book and log any driving that relates to your writing (i.e., book store, group meetings, critique partner meetings, writing location, research trips, etc.)

IRS typically allows a small business to show a loss for 3-5 years, but Jodi cites a recent case involving a racehorse owner who showed a loss for over 5 years. The IRS took her to court and lost because it was ruled that she couldn’t make her horse win (like we can’t make a house publish our book).

Moral of this story: If you can show you are actively trying to become a published writer, you have a better chance of saving yourself money in taxes for a longer period of time.

Track your writing time, including your research time. This shows a consistent work effort. (Jodi uses TraxTime—a software that allows you to punch in and out, and one that will produce reports.)

Track your submissions and rejections and contest entries. This shows your continued efforts to become published.

Miscellaneous points
o Everything is subjective
o Everything is arguable
o Level of deductions taken relates to a personal level of comfort
o If you are audited, only take one year of back taxes. The IRS will tell you to bring more, but by law you are only required to take one.
o According to industry professionals, the IRS audits more people in the lower economic levels and more self-employed individuals.
o Deductions have to be taken in the same calendar year as income/no-income (meaning you couldn’t deduct expenses from 2001 against income made in 2005).

Do you have anything to add here? Do you take deductions?

Ack! Is it Monday Already?

2007-08-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's Monday already. Okay, correction. I can't believe it's nearly Tuesday already. My life - which explains my late blog - is in a tailspin. Why, you ask???? One answer: Gremlin #3.

*sigh*

The littlest Gremlin is 2.5. Oh, yes. He's smack-dab in the midst of the terrible twos. I know those of you with older kids will laugh and smile and tell me I have no idea how bad it gets when you have teenagers (I do know, actually, since I taught junior high for nine years), but let me tell you, at this point, I would gladly take three teens in exchange for the two-year-old tornado.

What, pray tell, has me in such a tither? The changing of the bedrooms. This weekend we took down the crib and moved the boys into a room together, complete with bunk beds and "boy" stuff. Gremlin #3 slept in a big bed the whole time we were on vacation and he was an angel. I thought it would be an easy transition. Obviously, I thought wrong. Oh no, now that we're home, he doesn't want to stay in his bed. Nap time consists of me laying down with him for an hour to get him to fall asleep. Bedtime isn't much better. In fact, right now it's 10PM and guess where Gremlin #3 is? Yup. Sitting here next to me, watching as I type. And if that weren't bad enough, Gremlin #2 has been beside himself because he doesn't want to share a room with the "baby" who talks and cries all the time.

Calgon, take me away!

But, Elisabeth, you say, you have three Gremlins. You've been through this before. This is nothing new! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. I know there's a training phase associated with transitioning into a new room and a new bed. However, it's severely cutting into my writing time because I write when he naps and after they all go to bed. And since we moved him, I just haven't been able to write at all. Either I have forgotten how bad it really was with the other two, or my patience has reached its end.

I am in awe of women who have four, five, six kids and are still able to write or have a sane life. I was shaking my head in amazement last week at the woman in Arkansas who just gave birth to #17. I have no idea how she does it.

There's no real message here today, but if you have stay-sane-while-the-kids-are-little advice, I could surely use it. ;)

The Benefits of Being Involved

2007-08-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

I posted a comment in response to Elisabeth's post on Monday but somehow it disappeared into the ether. Now I'm thinking that might be a good thing because the thought has expanded and grown tentacles, as many things in my life tend to do.

Elisabeth wrote about being involved in RWA. As she mentioned, I'm starting a local chapter, and, Lord, I didn't realize how detailed and time consuming it would become. I mean, I knew. But I didn't know. It all feels so manageable from the start. Then it develops and takes on a life of it's own.

Mid-way through our first chapter meeting, when I realized my vision for the group was not the vision the group had for the group, one of the women said, "This is a little like a runaway train, isn't it?"

Yeah, I thought. A runaway train I'm trying to slow with a yank on the reins and my heels dragging through the dirt as I get pulled along.

Things don't always turn out the way you plan or expect. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so much. Despite my Eeyore tendencies, there is an underlying optimism lurking inside, one that prods me to analyze the benefits that will arise from the path I've embarked on--maybe some in lieu of the ones I anticipated, maybe some in place of.

Because the chapter is small and so many members live quite a distance away, most of the duties typically shared among a group have fallen back on me. It's okay. For now. I tell myself I'm learning valuable skills--cultivating speakers puts me in touch with skilled, published authors, A.K.A. networking; scheduling media coverage of their visit teaches me promotion technique; organizing a book signing for them after their presentation to our chapter puts me in touch with key bookstore personnel who could be valuable allies in the future.

Those are just a few things I try to focus on when the load gets heavy--the perks never anticipated or even wanted, but ones I can see value in.

What are some things you've done that reaped unexpected benefits?

How Much Are Your Characters Like You?

2007-08-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry to post late again this week. I just picked up a part time job and have to start training, so things in the past few days have been a little hectic. ;)

I'm reading a book right now by an author I've known for a few years. We used to be critique partners, but have sort of fallen out of touch lately. The book is great, but one thing I'm noticing is that the heroine is a lot like her, right down to looks, family details and the name of her pet. At times, I'm finding it a little distracting, since I'm having trouble thinking of the heroine as a fictional character.

This got me thinking about my own writing, and how similar my characters might be to me. Most of them are from New England, since that's where I've lived for most of my life and the place I know best. A lot of them share my hobbies, but since my hobbies are reading and cooking those are probably pretty common interests. ;) I don't usually go for men with blond hair, so most of my heroines don't, either. And coffee...I drink a lot of it, and I'm starting to notice I have at least one coffee drinking scene in every book.

There are differences too, though. I don't drink alcohol, but a lot of my heroines do. Their jobs tend to be varied, and I don't have many in the health care field like I used to be. Most of them like bad boys, and though I like to read about bad boys in books, they're really not my type.

I do have one heroine who's very similar to me. In The Whole Shebang, Lucy's story is a lot like my story...but the major details have mostly been changed. I found, while writing the book, that if she was too much like me I couldn't use her in the story. It would have been too much like writing an autobiography. ;)

Do you have characters that are similar to you? Do they share a lot of your hobbies and traits?

How Involved Are You?

2007-08-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend updating the blog template for another blog I'm a part of, the Mid-Willamette RWA blog. (By the way, Saturday I posted pictures there from my trip to Nationals, in case you're interested.) With so much happening within our group - sales, news, etc - overseeing the blog is quickly becoming a full-time job. I'm also the secretary for my local RWA chapter, and while that doesn't require a ton of time outside the meetings, there are several things I'm responsible for (like finalizing the "scenario" for our upcoming Fall Whoodunit Workshop - which I still need to do.) Elections are also coming up this fall and I have repeatedly been asked to step into the VP roll, and repeatedly, I have declined, only because the way our Bylaws are set up, a "yes" also means assuming the presidency for one year when the VP position is over. Could I do it? Sure. I could. I might even enjoy it. But my family and my writing would suffer right now.

Over and over I am amazed at what my writer friends are tackling outside their own writing. Joan, for example, is starting her own local RWA chapter because there isn't one in her area. Karin Tabke recently took on the presidency roll for her local chapter, amidst all her deadlines even. Trish Milburn has been an awesome PRO liason at the National level (and recently sold her first two books. Way to go, Trish!), and still other well-known authors - like previous president Gail Wilson - have served RWA at the National level when they could be using that time to write their latest novels.

This year - I think especially this year because of all the hullaballoo about the new RWA recognition standards - I've read a lot of negatives about RWA as a whole. Epub authors are upset about the changes to the recognized publishers, erotica authors are upset at the lack of recognition they receive within the organization, historical authors are up in arms about the changes to the GH/Ritas. As someone who's involved in RWA at the local level though, I want to point out that being involved is a big chore. Those of us who are don't do it for glory or fame or recognition. We do it because we love writing and the goal of RWA, which is to promote women writers in the publishing marketplace. If you are unhappy with what is happening within RWA, I will say this to you simply: GET INVOLVED. The only way to make changes is to do it from within, not to sit on the sidelines and complain when decisions are made that don't go your way.

My roll as secretary is coming to an end, but I'll probably be running for Treasurer this fall so I can remain on our local board and stay involved. I want to be a part of the decision making process, not a bystander on the side. We all have limits, and for me, right now with three small kids at home, this is my limit. It doesn't mean I won't ever take on a bigger roll, but I'm happy there are others who can. Being involved doesn't mean you have to run for a national position, or that you have to start your own chapter, it does mean that you have to put yourself out there though and do something more.

So share. How involved are you in RWA or any other writing organization? Why or why not?

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2007-08-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

"I don't know how you do it all."

I hear that a lot, espcially as the school year begins. I admit I do keep a lot on my plate -- parenting, teaching, coaching, writing, advising two clubs.

I find a way to do it all because it matters to me.

One of my typical days involves getting up around 5:30, getting everyone dressed, fed and out the door. I'm at school by 7:30 and teaching begins at 8:10. That lasts all day, of course, and after school, I have coaching until 5:30, usually. Then it's home to cook supper, take a run, clean the kitchen, get the Monsters into bed and I take the last hour and a half of my day for writing and promo.

There isn't much time to breathe.

What I've learned to do to manage everything is to streamline my day. Our house is organized so that cleaning can be done in spurts throughout the week -- maintaining order until I really clean for a couple of hours on the weekends. I have four baskets in my laundry room and everyone is responsible for placing dirty duds in the correct baskets, so I never have to sort laundry. I don't put laundry away either -- each family member is responsible for taking their stacks as I fold and putting things in the correct place.

My Monsters have always had chores. I don't clean their rooms but they are responsible for keeping them neat and orderly and they take turns keeping the bathroom clean (I do give it a really thorough, down-to-the-baseboards cleaning every couple of weeks). I don't go to bed without cleaning the kitchen and we lay out all clothes, bags, etc. the night before to make our mornings go easier.

I grade papers or work on school stuff for an hour or so nightly, so that doesn't pile up. It's the same with writing. 1200 words a day for four weeks means I have a rough draft nearly fifty percent complete at this point.

So, yeah, I'm busy. Some days I get overwhelmed. (Wait until November when I'm responsible for getting Homecoming Week pulled together. Some time, I'll share with you how I got snookered into being the student government advisor.) But I'm doing the things that matter to me.

How do you juggle your life and writing?

Love Story vs. Romance

2007-08-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know -- I'm getting into a bad habit of posting late. 3rd week in a row. I have no excuse but the typical one everyone has -- I'm too darn busy! And, no, that's not a good thing.

Okay...on to the post.

This is something I've been thinking about for some time. It's one of those topics that can become convoluted and mushy, where the lines blurr and no one knows what anyone is talking about after a while.

I don't understand the distinction between a love story and a romance. I've searched online, but only get a lot of **opinion** spit back. It seems most people believe there are two distinct categories. I'm not so sure.

What is your take on Love Stories vs. Romance?

Encouraging young writers?

2007-07-31T17:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my daughter told me she thinks she wants to be a writer when she grows up. The first question that came to mind was this: "What else do you want to do?" I'm very proud of her and want to support her in whatever she wants to do, but at the same time, I know how difficult this field is, and how difficult it is to support oneself in this kind of a career. I'm passionate about what I do, but I would really like to see her settle in to something a little more stable. So as I'm encouraging her to follow her dreams, I'm also encouraging her to make sure she finds the balance between her dreams and security.

Having dealt with the struggle firsthand--and dealing with it still on a near daily basis--I wouldn't want to see her go through the same thing unless she really, really wanted it. So I told her I would be happy to look at anything she writes, and then gently explained that she might want to think of something else she'd like to do when she grows up, just in case. It doesn't hurt to have a backup plan. I don't have one myself, and there are days I wish I did. ;)

Earlier today, I told someone what I do, and she immediately asked me if I made money like Danielle Steel. Um, not even close. :) Because I write for small presses, I have to write a lot to bring in steady paychecks. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, and I wouldn't change anything if I had the chance. I guess it's all part of being a parent. We don't want to see our kids struggling, and want to make sure they have good lives.

What do you think? Would you encourage your child to follow their dreams, encourage them to go for security, or a little of both?

Ideas in The Most Unlikely Places

2007-07-30T08:26:00.001-07:00

First off, big apologies for not blogging last Monday. I was on a family vacation, and when I realized I'd forgotten to arrange a stand-in for my blog day, it was too late.

Speaking of vacations though, that's a good segue into my topic today. Which is having book ideas strike in unlikely places. Last week the family and I were here (see side photo): Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Now, I tend to think the phrase family vacation is about the biggest oxymoron on the planet, because a vacation with small kids is no vacation at all for the parents. It's work most of the time. But we did manage to have a really great time, and because we had extended family around us, it made for an even greater time.

Normally on vacation, I get my best book ideas. Sitting on a lounge chair on the beach, drink in hand, soaking up the sun while I listen to the ebb and flow of the surf always switches the creative side of my brain into gear. I LOVE vacation just to sit and think. This vacation though? Not so much brain activity going on. We were chasing kids out of the surf so they wouldn't get sucked out to sea, herding the 2 yr old so he didn't disappear down the beach following sea gulls, slathering on sunscreen so my oh-so-white-rarely-see-the-sun children didn't fry to a crisp, visiting with the relatives, playing baseball on the sand and building sand alligators (and castles and moats and digging gigantic holes). So, in a nutshell, very little time to sit and ponder my current book or any new book ideas. However, just being out of my normal routine seems to have worked, and the experiences we had - good and bad - have been percolating in my brain as possible upcoming book ideas.

For example. One night my hubby and I joined my two cousins and their husbands on a casino cruise that left out of North Myrtle Beach. The brochure read: Gambling, buffet dinner and a sunset cruise. Sounded like fun to us. Until we saw the boat. (See picture.) Um, definitely not a Norwegian Cruise Liner. I think this boat had to be at least 50 yrs old inside and out. It smelled of stale cigarettes, and rocked side to side worse than any dingy I've ever been on. And the buffet dinner? Chef Boyardee spaghetti, wilted lettuce and fried pork chops. Being from the west coast, I can honestly say I've never had a fried pork chop, and probably wouldn't have if I hadn't been starving. But the combo - spaghetti and fried pork chops - just added to the whole atmosphere and I found myself wondering what we'd signed up for. But then my cousin's husband commented that the boat would be so easy to rob, and suddenly book ideas were going off in my head.

Another book idea struck while we were here: Broadway at the Beach. Think of Downtown Disney in Orlando and you have a good idea of Broadway at the Beach. Restaurants, shopping, rides, entertainment and about twenty million people. While waiting for my cousin, we somehow managed to lose our youngest in the crowd (he's two, super fast and very independent). I have to say, that was the scariest moment of my life. The kid just disappeared. Luckily, we found him about five minutes later, hanging out in a t-shirt shop we'd popped into momentarily a few moments before. He was kicked back on a sofa, shoes off, talking to the sales girls. This experience stuck with me though because I have a book about halfway finished which deals with a missing child. And though I NEVER want anyone to experience the fear when you lose a child, even for a moment, it gave me incredible insight into what that particular book is missing. I had new scenes and character emotions firing off in my head.

Other ideas struck simply from people watching. One lady was dressed to the nines, waiting for her plane to Atlanta. I hate sitting on a plane, so why would someone get so dressed up to simply sit there for almost two hours? And what was waiting for her in Atlanta? Another woman kept giving me dirty looks on the plane when my 2 yr old was simply talking (okay, he talks loud, but come on, he's a kid). Why does she hate children so much? And still another idea popped into my head when we had a very scary landing back in Portland and I saw how stressed out (and relieved) other passengers were.

So where do you get your best ideas? At home? On vacation? Going about your daily duties or in unique places? And if you ever had an experience that birthed a book idea, I'd love to hear it.

Say What?!

2007-07-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

I finally had someone say it to me this week. To be sure, it almost knocked me off my feet, but I held it together and didn't laugh aloud when he said it.

"I thought writing a romance novel would be easy."

Or words to that effect. I also know, because I know the person who said them pretty well, that they weren't meant in a disparaging way.

But, oh, am I thinking the poor dear is misguided!

But, y'all, I really did want to laugh -- both at the irony and at the idea. Okay, we have to acknowledge up front that in many ways, the romance novel is still the unwelcome bastard child of all things literary. I won't bore you with the sales statistics, blah, blah, blah.

But really, is any novel easy to write? I don't think so.

The gist of the conversation was that the speaker has been thinking of writing a romance novel. Has been looking at H/S guidelines. Has really no clue what's involved in writing a romance novel, let alone selling one.

But you know, that's okay, because Lord knows we've all been there. So I thought about all those people who helped me when I was starting out and said or did misguided things. I thought about the authors who are ahead of me in the publication game and continue to help me in various ways.

And I didn't laugh.

I paid it forward.

Because while it may not be easy to write a romance novel, it's very easy to extend someone a helping hand along the way.

Speaker Roundup

2007-07-25T16:03:00.001-07:00

I'd say these Wednesday's roll around fast, but I said that last week, so I doubt it will fly two weeks in a row.

I've been busily cultivating our RWA chapter here on the central coast of CA. We've got almost 30 gals interested, and a dozen attended the first meeting. Hopefully another handful will attend in August.

I put out a call to speakers, thinking I'd get a lot of no's. Instead I got a lot of "Sure, love to's". I'm still rather stunned at the calibur of speakers who have agreed to come. I'm booked every month from Sept to June with some awesome topics and presenters.

Sept: Vineyard tour showing the inner workings. We'll get to observe the actual harvest, too. And their falconer will be there to show us his birds and how they work.

Oct: Rae Monet and Cynthia Lea Clark on FBI heroines and the mind of a villain.

Nov: Charlotte Cook, president of Komenar Publishing will talk about the state of the industry and what every author should know.

Jan: Lisa Shield, life coach and relationship counselor, is working up a presentation-slash-workshop on love and romance and how to relate the real life romance cycle to your romantic characters.

Feb: Martha Engber presents an intensive 6 hr workshop on character building.

April: My DH is going to do the firehouse tour, let the gals put on turnouts, breath through the breathing apparatus, carry a firehose, and once they're good and tired and smelly, he and the guys will put on a show--use the jaws to pry off the top of a car and rescue some poor dummy (manaquin dummy, not a dummy, dummy), or observe the burn trailors where firefighters train for structure fires or some other such exciting visual.

May: Bonnie Hearn Hill, suspense author published with MIRA, will swing by and give and interactive talk about first chapters and critique members' work.

Phew...and I still have other fabulous authors and speakers checking schedules and getting back to me including Simon Wood, suspense author, Robin Burcell, mystery and romance author, Sandy Blair, highland historical paranormal author, Holly Payne, screenwriter and author...

I know I'm missing a few.

We are truly blessed to have such giving people in the writing community.

Who have you seen speak or taken a workshop from that was fabulous? Who would you like to see speak or give a workshop?

Rejections, thick skins, and practice

2007-07-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of days, I've learned that maintaining a thick skin takes practice, the same way as growing one does. After six years, countless rejections (and a final line editor calling one of my heroines TSTL...two weeks before the book was scheduled to be released :grin: ) I think I've developed a pretty thick skin. If I'm submitting regularly, I'm generally averaging a lot of rejections at once, and I have no problem ignoring them and moving on to the next project.

In the past few weeks, I've gotten a couple of rejections that I took way more personally than I should have. This past year, I haven't done much submitting at all, and I think I'm out of practice as far as the rejections go.

Does this happen to anyone else, or am I the only crazy one around here? :grin:

Just. Can't. Focus.

2007-07-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's Friday evening, and I have nothing to say. This is not good. I've started and abandoned three different posts for today's blog.

Or rather I have nothing to say that makes sense.

I think my creativity has been expended as far as blogging because I'm four chapters into my 70 Days of Sweat book (18K+ in a week, baby!), working on edits on HOL, working on print galleys for WMM, writing unit plans for school (twelve more days until pre-planning) and teaching a drama workshop.

That's probably exacerbated by the fact my A/C went out this week and it's been over 100 here every day. Thank God, the air is fixed!

How about you? Ever have days when you simply can't concentrate? Any suggestions?

Holy Cow...It's Wednesday

2007-07-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm just realizing it now!

I've been tied up for the last week with new chapter business. Lord, there is a lot of business to handle for a new RWA chapter!

Here...you can help us choose a name. We're located smack in the middle of California on the coast and in the heart of wine country (2nd only to Napa...and I'm not so sure we're second anymore).

Choose the ones you like from the following list...or add your own thoughts in the comments.

View MicroPollWeb SurveyFree Web Polls

Favorite Tips?

2007-07-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

I spent a good portion of the morning reading online craft articles, and I've been sitting here for the past half hour, alternating between deleting what I've typed and staring at a blinking cursor. Since no brilliant blog topic seems to be jumping out at me (not that brilliance is generally one of my traits :grin: ), I'm going to ask a couple of questions instead.

What are some of your favorite writing tips?
What's the best writing advice you've ever received? The worst?

I think the best advice I've received is to grow a thick skin and not take rejection personally. The worst advice--follow the rules and don't push too many boundaries. I tried to follow the rules with my first couple of books, but since then I've learned which ones should be broken, which ones I can get away with bending, and pushing boundaries is actually a lot of fun. :)

Conference Wrap-Up

2007-07-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hi-ho from the wilds of Oregon! I'm home from Nationals in Dallas, and so glad to be back in the Pacific Northwest. I always love traveling, but coming home - especially after an exhausting (but good!) conference - is the best feeling.

I could go on and on about the workshops I attended, about everything I learned from this pub or that pub, but I thought instead I'd give you my top ten Dallas moments you probably won't read anywhere else. (Sorry I don't have pictures. My camera battery died and my roommates took all the pictures - which I haven't received in my email yet.)

Top 10 Dallas Moments

10. The Literacy Signing. I always love talking to my favorite authors and this year was no exception. Sherrilyn Kenyon knows how to wear a hat. ;)

9. The Forensics Workshops. There were a few this time. I got some great information and lists of resources.

8. Free Books! This time I was smart and brought an extra bag just for books. (And man, was it a bitch to haul through the airport.) Some will go to my chapter for our Fall Conference. Some will go right into my TBR piles. :)

7. Meeting some of my online friends in person. Edie Ramer, Karmela Johnson, Lexi Connor. It's so awesome to put faces with names, and these ladies are the up-and-comers. Names to watch for in the future. Their enthusiasm is palpable.

6. All the new friends I made. Shelby Reed, Delilah Ahrendt, Kristina McMorris, Lynda Gayle, JT Bock, Marcia Harris. The list goes on and on. I made so many new friends, and I can't wait to see all of their careers take off.

5. Hanging with my roomies. I love these girls! We stayed up late every night, got way too little sleep and were tired every morning, but it was well worth it. They are da bomb. (And remember girls, what happens in Dallas stays in Dallas.)

4. Having dinner with the other GH Finalists. What a great group of women. I wanted all of them to win.

3. Michael Hauge's workshop on plotting and character arcs. Oh. My. God. If you EVER have a chance to take a Michael Hauge workshop...DO IT. I would never have gone if my roommate hadn't taken his Saturday morning workshop, and I really didn't expect to stay through the afternoon one, especially since it was standing room only (and I was standing). But...wow. I had about 12 aha! moments listening to his workshop, never once looked at my watch, and didn't even care that my feet were killing me until after the session was over. It was head and shoulders above any other workshop I attended the entire week. So good in fact, it made the $325 conference registration worth it.

2. Meeting my agent face-to-face. I know there are authors who never meet their agent face-to-face, and I'm sure they have great relationships, but there's something about meeting your agent in the flesh that changes everything. You just can't read body language and enthusiasm over email (or even the phone) the way you can in person. And I gotta say, I love my agent!

1. Being a GH finalist. I'm a realist. I know being a GH finalist doesn't mean much outside the organization, but I'm really glad I went to Nationals because I finaled. It was the catalyst that pushed me into going. Someone told me you're treated like a princess when you're a finalist, and I have to say, that's pretty much true (though your roommates will give you a hard time about it. LOL). I met so many people I might not otherwise have met, I was included in parties I wouldn't have been invited to, and when my name was announced during the awards ceremony and I heard whoops and hollers instead of just the standard clapping, I can't even begin to tell you how warm and fuzzy that made me feel inside. Even though I didn't win my category, it was an honor just to be nominated. (And that's no bull, I really really REALLY mean it.)

If you went to Dallas, I'd love to hear your top ten moments. If you didn't, share what you did this week. I need to catch up!

My Love Affair with Diction

2007-07-13T16:01:00.001-07:00

I love words. Obviously. But I'm on a mission to vary my diction -- my choice of words in my writing. As my editor will attest, I tend to latch on to a word or words during a manuscript and refuse to let go (my favorites tend to be again, smile, etc.).

So here are some words for slow movements I'm working toward using in my latest MS:

creep
plod
slouch
lumber
tiptoe
bend
amble
saunter
loiter
stray
stalk
heave
sneak
stagger
lope
waddle
drag
sway
lift

I want to work in these sight descriptive words:

blotched
wrinkled
mottled
sparkling
iridescent
gauzy
shabby
ramshackle
lithe (already used this one, I think)

I need to work on some taste and smell words, too, especially since I have a coastal setting in sections.

Do you have "favorite" words you latch on to?

Craft: Patterns of Cumulative Sentences

2007-07-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

I love cumulative sentences. They're a great way to take a "telling" sentence and add some "show."

The following content is from the writing resources I use when teaching Writers Workshop at the high school level. I think it's from America's Choice, but I'm not sure. Anyway . . .

Look at the pattern these sentences have in common:

1) He lay for a quarter of an hour without thinking, lips parted, legs and arms extended, breathing quietly as he gazed at the figures in the wallpaper until they were hidded in darkness. -- Saul Bellow

2) One remembers them from another time -- playing handball in the playground, going to church, wondering if they were going to be promoted at school. -- James Baldwin

3) I sensed a wrongness around me, like an alarm clock that had gone off without being set. -- Maya Angelou

4) A moment later she was swimming back to the side of the pool, her head of short-clipped auburn hair held up straight ahead of her, as though it were a rose on a long stem. -- Phillip Roth

5) His hands were huge and brown from the sun, with white hairs matting on the backs of his fingers. -- Helen Norris

6) Her hair was slicked against her head with a bun in the back, a proper married-lady hairdo. -- Maxine Hong Kingston

7) He was tall, about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they were like tinted windows of a sleek limousine -- he could see out, but you couldn't see in. -- John Berendt

If you'll notice each sentence begins with a "telling part" and then adds details (sensory, descriptive or figurative -- love the simile in Angelou's example) to "show." It's a nice way to vary your sentence structure, too.

One way I have my students use this as a sentence-level revision strategy is to have them go through and pinpoint sentences that are "telling" and which could have "showing" details added. Once they find these, they take the telling sentences and rewrite them into cumulative sentences. It adds richness to their writing every time.

The Learning Curve

2007-07-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

I'm in a glass class at my almamader this week: glass fusing, which is where you melt the glass in a kiln instead of how I've always worked with it--in the torch.

The class is fascinating. Our instructor is open and helpful and willing to show us any aspect of glass we'd like--not just fusing. Today I'm going to try my hand at sandblasting, something that has always interested me.

As I was driving home yesterday, exhausted from the sheer mountain of new information I'd been exposed to in just two days, it occurred to me that this was how I felt as I walked along the learning path to writing. And like glass, the learning path never really ends, it just twists and turns and leads to new interesting places and possibilities.

Eventually you become a master--which doesn't mean you know everything, it means you have a vast knowledge and know the many facets of applying that knowledge to create something of your own design, your own voice. (Yes, there are voices in art, too.) But that mastery takes many, many years of study.

One woman who writes craft, Elizabeth Lyons, said at a conference once: "A writing apprenticeship takes approximately 10 years. That doesn't mean you won't get published until you've been writing ten years, obviously. It means that you don't really understand all the facets and elements of writing until you've been working hard at it for ten years."

IMO, with my many careers behind me and years of study in multiple areas--medicine, glass, writing--I think 10 years is about right.

What do you think?

The fun of a challenge

2007-07-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

I signed up to participate in the Seventy Days of Sweat writing challenge. I've signed up for writing challenges before--NaNoWriMo and a BIAW--but never really did well in them. I'm not the type of person who works well under a deadline. I tend to put things off until the last minute, and then rush to get everything done at once. I actually surprised myself by writing on Sunday, when the challenge started. Sundays are usually my days off, but part of the challenge is to write every single day. Not a ton of pages, but six per day. For me, that's a very manageable number and probably the reason I've met my goals for the past three days.

For me, the fun in the challenge doesn't come from the competition, at least not competition with other authors. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get from actually having a page total every single day. I never write for seventy days straight. I usually write for a few weeks to a month, and then take another few weeks off to recharge, so I expect about halfway through the challenge I'm going to be feeling the pressure. ;)

Who else is doing the challenge? When it comes to writing, what challenges you? Beating personal goals? A little friendly competition? Something else?

Last Minute Wrap-Up

2007-07-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

The hours are whittling down. I'm trying to get everything done before I board a jet-plane tomorrow afternoon bound for the RWA National Convention in Dallas, TX. There are not enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to be done. (Story of my life.)

Not only do I have to have the house in order for Grandma who will be babysitting, but I just found out this morning the forecast calls for temps in the 100-102 degree range here starting tomorrow. Now, this is Oregon, people. And while those of you in the south and east may cringe at this revelation - we don't have a/c. We honestly only ever have super hot days like this a handful of times through the summer, and just about the time I think about splurging on a/c, the hot weather passes. Though why it always seems to hit when I'm at Nationals is beyond me. So imagine, if you will, Grandma babysitting three Gremlins in 102 temps, in a non-a/c house. Not fun. I think this goes above and beyond the grandmotherly call of duty (which I know she'll remind me of later).

So, my day now not only consists of getting things ready for Grandma, packing, making lists, etc. but also getting the kids all packed up because she's probably going to end up taking them to her house - where there is a/c. I suppose in the long run it's not a big deal, but it's extra work when I'm already feeling the crunch. I long for the days when I can leave without having to worry about this and that, but I have a feeling (knowing my personality) that isn't ever going to happen. Sorta like the writing, really. I long for the days when the house is quiet and all the Gremlins are at school and I can write in my leisurely peace. Talking with writer friends who are at that point though (and, again, knowing my personality), I'll still probably find other things to do during the day besides write and then be stuck writing late at night again like I do now.

I'm not sure about internet access at the Hyatt where I'm staying, but assuming it's not obscenely outrageous, I'll try to post updates to my blog this week, so check there periodically because you just never know who I may run into. I'm taking two wonderful writer friends from my local RWA chapter with me - my mentor, Alice Sharpe, and my good buddy, Lisa Pulliam - and I heard through the grapevine last night they're planning sinister things while we're in Dallas to add fodder to our chapter blog. Those silly girls, they don't have a clue who they're dealing with. (insert evil laugh here...) Seriously though, I'm touched they decided to go with me and know it's because they want to support me on GH night. I'm bringing my camera though, so if they get out of line, I'll post incriminating photos of them here next week. :)

Okay, kids are screaming, the house is chaos, and my list of things "to do" is getting longer by the minute. I'm signing off. Have a great week!

Book Warnings

2007-07-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

In case you've never browsed the selections at Samhain, each information page on a book includes warnings. It's a neat idea, if you think about it -- might keep you from buying a book you'd toss at the wall or it might induce you to buy a book.

For the most part, the "warnings" are pretty standard: explicit sex, male-male sex, explicit language, violence, etc.

So I was participating in an author chat at Fallen Angels Reviews last night and we began talking about those warnings, specifically because an author directed us to her "humorous" warning about crispy villagers (it's a dragon book). Anyway, someone commented that the more creative warnings induced her to buy the books.

Now, I've seen male-male romances tagged as "hot nekkid man love," which I'm sure lures in more readers than "male-male sex."

To that end, since I'm promo-obsessed lately anyway, I thought I'd work on revamping my warnings for future books.

Instead of "mature language," I'm going to use "Lots of cussing. Perhaps even gratuitious use of the F-bomb."

For "explicit sex?" Hot naked loving! Or for one certain book, "hot naked loving with . . ." (Wait. Can't finish that. Connie visits me here and if Connie is reading it . . . my students might find their way over here . . .). Use your imagination. ;-)

A little violence involved? How about a warning that says "an ass-kicking good read"? Or "dastardly villain injured in this book!"

What do you think? And do you have suggestions for warnings you'd like to see on books before you buy?