Karina Bliss's Blog
February 20, 2012
I'm blogging in two places today, come visit I'd love to see you.
On the Super Authors loop I confess to being a serial killer. http://www.superauthors.com. Comment and go into the draw for one of my backlist.
There's a new fantasy author in town, Kylie Griffin, who is getting rave reviews for her debut, Vengeance Born. She asks me some really hard questions on the author's life here.
http://kyliegriffinromance.blogspot.co.n...
And now I have to stop writing blogs and resume writing my book.
Have a great week.
On the Super Authors loop I confess to being a serial killer. http://www.superauthors.com. Comment and go into the draw for one of my backlist.
There's a new fantasy author in town, Kylie Griffin, who is getting rave reviews for her debut, Vengeance Born. She asks me some really hard questions on the author's life here.
http://kyliegriffinromance.blogspot.co.n...
And now I have to stop writing blogs and resume writing my book.
Have a great week.
February 15, 2012
I'm around 25,000 into the fourth and final of of SAS hero series. Working title: His Goodbye Girl.
I find after the set-up I start to falter. Okay we're into the story...how are you two going to make those incremental steps from distrust to trust to a happy ever after that readers will sigh over?
Hero and Heroine are stumbling around the page a bit right now, still changing their minds about their scene goal, or how they feel about things while I follow them with a tuning fork...listening for the right note. And feeling tone deaf. I tell myself it's part of the process, but aw heck can't we miss this part out just this once!
Muse says no. :)
All I want is character honesty but I don't know these two well enough yet and so they keep going two-dimensional on me.
Meanwhile I have a cover for my June release, Bring Him Home, which I'll post as soon as I get approval. That book is done so it's easy to love now. I can't wait to hear how readers feel about it.
Now I'm off to the keyboard chanting the old mantra. You've got yourself through ten books. You'll find your way through the eleventh.
Good luck with your own endeavors this week!
I find after the set-up I start to falter. Okay we're into the story...how are you two going to make those incremental steps from distrust to trust to a happy ever after that readers will sigh over?
Hero and Heroine are stumbling around the page a bit right now, still changing their minds about their scene goal, or how they feel about things while I follow them with a tuning fork...listening for the right note. And feeling tone deaf. I tell myself it's part of the process, but aw heck can't we miss this part out just this once!
Muse says no. :)
All I want is character honesty but I don't know these two well enough yet and so they keep going two-dimensional on me.
Meanwhile I have a cover for my June release, Bring Him Home, which I'll post as soon as I get approval. That book is done so it's easy to love now. I can't wait to hear how readers feel about it.
Now I'm off to the keyboard chanting the old mantra. You've got yourself through ten books. You'll find your way through the eleventh.
Good luck with your own endeavors this week!
February 9, 2012
I was reading 'Reinventing Fabulous' a three friends blog by Jenny Crusie, Lani Diane Rich and Anne Stuart (Krissie) which is funny and irreverent and all about female friendship. Here's the link:
http://reinventingfabulous.com/
It got me thinking about a friend who passed away last year and the different ways of missing people. And the ones that you laugh with hit the top of my list. A shared sense of humour is the best glue in any relationship and I love books where the hero and heroine - no matter what - have the same sly humour, the ability to glance at each other and share a private joke.
Some books that do that really well are: Georgette Heyer's "Venetia" and Susan Elizabeth Phillips "Nobody's Baby But Mine" and "Heaven, Texas." I do love a man with a sense of humor, preferably as dry as James Bond's martini.
If you have books that fit that criteria, I'd love to hear about them.
As for the book I'm writing, "His Goodbye Girl" - little humour yet but it's coming...oh yes, it's coming. One of the best things about being a writer is that unlike real life you get do-overs until the joke works. Boom Boom.
http://reinventingfabulous.com/
It got me thinking about a friend who passed away last year and the different ways of missing people. And the ones that you laugh with hit the top of my list. A shared sense of humour is the best glue in any relationship and I love books where the hero and heroine - no matter what - have the same sly humour, the ability to glance at each other and share a private joke.
Some books that do that really well are: Georgette Heyer's "Venetia" and Susan Elizabeth Phillips "Nobody's Baby But Mine" and "Heaven, Texas." I do love a man with a sense of humor, preferably as dry as James Bond's martini.
If you have books that fit that criteria, I'd love to hear about them.
As for the book I'm writing, "His Goodbye Girl" - little humour yet but it's coming...oh yes, it's coming. One of the best things about being a writer is that unlike real life you get do-overs until the joke works. Boom Boom.
January 29, 2012
Stand-In Wife wasn't my best cover, there's no getting around it. I've always wanted a half-naked man on one of my covers, the irony fairy gave me a naked half-man.
One of my best covers was What The Librarian Did, without a doubt. People bought the book solely for that cover.
www.smartbitcheslovetrashybooks spoofed it brilliantly here.
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/...
Now Stand-In Wife has been cleverly lampooned here.
http://covers.unclewaltersrants.com/2012...
Love it, just love it.
One of my best covers was What The Librarian Did, without a doubt. People bought the book solely for that cover.
www.smartbitcheslovetrashybooks spoofed it brilliantly here.
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/...
Now Stand-In Wife has been cleverly lampooned here.
http://covers.unclewaltersrants.com/2012...
Love it, just love it.
January 17, 2012
I'm back in work mode after the Christmas break. Just finished final corrections on my June release, BRING HIM HOME, and writing Chapter Four of a new book, the fourth in my SAS series, working title, HIS GOODBYE GIRL.
I re-read BRING HIM HOME last night and said to my husband, 'Either this is really really good or a piece of melodramatic drivel.'
It's a high-stakes, high-drama novel which means it's even tougher to dance the line between pathos and sentimentality.
No doubt readers will tell me if I've got the balance right!
Meanwhile on Chapter Four of HIS GOODBYE GIRL I'm obsessively reworking the first scene between my four heroes, three of whom have already had their book.
I love returning characters because they're easy to write. I know how they'll react to situations, and to each other.
It's the new hero I have to feel my way with (what a fun job!). I thought I had his measure in the first scene but he's changing on me. That's good...we're all different people depending on who we're with. I'm hoping these new facets of his personality will add dimension to his character.
And in my leisure I've been reading Cecilia Grant's debut A Lady Awakened and Sarah Mayberry's latest, All They Need. Both wonderful books.
Good reads (another pun, I'm on fire!) always inspire me to try harder in my own writing.
I re-read BRING HIM HOME last night and said to my husband, 'Either this is really really good or a piece of melodramatic drivel.'
It's a high-stakes, high-drama novel which means it's even tougher to dance the line between pathos and sentimentality.
No doubt readers will tell me if I've got the balance right!
Meanwhile on Chapter Four of HIS GOODBYE GIRL I'm obsessively reworking the first scene between my four heroes, three of whom have already had their book.
I love returning characters because they're easy to write. I know how they'll react to situations, and to each other.
It's the new hero I have to feel my way with (what a fun job!). I thought I had his measure in the first scene but he's changing on me. That's good...we're all different people depending on who we're with. I'm hoping these new facets of his personality will add dimension to his character.
And in my leisure I've been reading Cecilia Grant's debut A Lady Awakened and Sarah Mayberry's latest, All They Need. Both wonderful books.
Good reads (another pun, I'm on fire!) always inspire me to try harder in my own writing.
January 9, 2012
Today I'm blogging on the SuperRomance authors loop about what makes a great ending to a romance. Come visit and go into the draw for one of my backlist.
Here's the link:
http://www.superauthors.com/2012/01/what...
Here's the link:
http://www.superauthors.com/2012/01/what...
January 4, 2012
My fifteen year old read the funniest New Year's resolution out yesterday..."Another twelve months of successfully not becoming a better person."
It got me thinking about writer's resolutions. Mine usually start:
Be more productive (write more!)
Be less scared (of writing rubbish).
Make a career plan beyond the next book.
Ah bah, humbug. So here's the deal.
I'll take as long as it takes to write the best damn book I can.
I'll remember the fear of writing rubbish means readers won't be reading rubbish when they pick up one of my books. Actually, that's out of my hands but my comeback is (hand to heart) "I gave it my best shot."
I'll write something for fun because break-out books seem to come from the imaginative 'what if'.
But yes, sigh. I will work on a career plan because it makes sense.
I welcome any other anti-resolution resolutions.
It got me thinking about writer's resolutions. Mine usually start:
Be more productive (write more!)
Be less scared (of writing rubbish).
Make a career plan beyond the next book.
Ah bah, humbug. So here's the deal.
I'll take as long as it takes to write the best damn book I can.
I'll remember the fear of writing rubbish means readers won't be reading rubbish when they pick up one of my books. Actually, that's out of my hands but my comeback is (hand to heart) "I gave it my best shot."
I'll write something for fun because break-out books seem to come from the imaginative 'what if'.
But yes, sigh. I will work on a career plan because it makes sense.
I welcome any other anti-resolution resolutions.
December 20, 2011
I'm giving away a book today on the SuperAuthor blog, my Christmas novella published in 2010, KISS ME, SANTA.
Here's the link if you'd like to go in the draw:
http://www.superauthors.com/
Whenever I think about that book I smile - chiefly because I'd never written a novella before and had a lot of trouble plotting for a 24,000 word as opposed to a 75,000 word book.
My watershed moment came when I was talking to Nalini Singh (yes, I know her! She's a New Zealander and a longstanding member of Romance Writers of New Zealand) about my plot struggles. She started laughing when I told her I had a subplot and suggested I take it out and concentrate those few short pages on the romance. Well, duh, why hadn't I thought of that?
So I did and it worked way better. In fact, it's one of my favorite stories.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Karina
Here's the link if you'd like to go in the draw:
http://www.superauthors.com/
Whenever I think about that book I smile - chiefly because I'd never written a novella before and had a lot of trouble plotting for a 24,000 word as opposed to a 75,000 word book.
My watershed moment came when I was talking to Nalini Singh (yes, I know her! She's a New Zealander and a longstanding member of Romance Writers of New Zealand) about my plot struggles. She started laughing when I told her I had a subplot and suggested I take it out and concentrate those few short pages on the romance. Well, duh, why hadn't I thought of that?
So I did and it worked way better. In fact, it's one of my favorite stories.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Karina
December 13, 2011
I'm working on line edits for Bring Him Home, my June 2012 release and trying to work out what the American term is for diesel.
I'm pretty sure it's not gasoline which I'm guessing refers to petroleum. Maybe I'll simply replace with 'fuel.'
Line edits are the nit-picking stage of the manuscript. I've written it, done revisions and this is a line by line edit to pick up work overuse, time line inconsistencies, and sometimes even plot holes.
My heroine's son, despite work, remains something of a plot moppet (a wonderful term I first saw used on www.dearauthor.com or smartbitchestrashybooks.com). A child there to do a plot job rather than be a real person. Normally I have no problem writing kids, but because my heroine/hero had BIG stuff to deal with I didn't want to make her son too troubled. (He was, but he's coming out of it through the story). I went too far the other way obviously and need to get the balance right.
I'm also working on the first three chapters and synopsis of a new book, tentatively titled HIS GOODBYE GIRL, a back from the dead story, which should be a fun end to the series.
More on that one later.
I'm conscious that very few are reading this blog...hopefully numbers will grow, but for the time being it's very freeing, writing stream of consciousness 'dear writing diary' stuff.
To the handful reading this...hey, how are you? Merry Xmas!
I'm pretty sure it's not gasoline which I'm guessing refers to petroleum. Maybe I'll simply replace with 'fuel.'
Line edits are the nit-picking stage of the manuscript. I've written it, done revisions and this is a line by line edit to pick up work overuse, time line inconsistencies, and sometimes even plot holes.
My heroine's son, despite work, remains something of a plot moppet (a wonderful term I first saw used on www.dearauthor.com or smartbitchestrashybooks.com). A child there to do a plot job rather than be a real person. Normally I have no problem writing kids, but because my heroine/hero had BIG stuff to deal with I didn't want to make her son too troubled. (He was, but he's coming out of it through the story). I went too far the other way obviously and need to get the balance right.
I'm also working on the first three chapters and synopsis of a new book, tentatively titled HIS GOODBYE GIRL, a back from the dead story, which should be a fun end to the series.
More on that one later.
I'm conscious that very few are reading this blog...hopefully numbers will grow, but for the time being it's very freeing, writing stream of consciousness 'dear writing diary' stuff.
To the handful reading this...hey, how are you? Merry Xmas!
December 5, 2011
Aussie author Kylie Griffith - www.kyliegriffith.com - whose Berkley debut, Vengeance Born comes out February, sent me an interview questionnaire for her blog (to be published next year).
One of her questions was, Can you describe your writing process/timeframe from when you start a new book to handing it in at deadline?
Here's my draft answer:
Let's take the last book I turned in as it's fresh - Bring Him Home, out June 2012. I have an idea. A guy falls in love with his army buddy's widow. And I push it to the nth degree. What if he had to make a Sophy's Choice (lesser of two evils) in the ambush that killed his buddy. What if his buddy was complicit in that choice? What if he's so scarred emotionally he turns his back on his friends, the only family he has. What if his best friend's widow forces him to come home because his signature in a family trust is required in order for her sell the home and invest in a business. What if she hasn't forgiven her late husband for something and the hero acts as go between. What if his own redemption is increasingly tied to reconciling the widow to her late husband at the same time he falls in love with her.
I also look at genre conventions and try and twist them. Let's have a widow who adored her husband. Let's have the late husband a major character in the book. Let's have the love triangle about the hero's loyalty to his best friend as much as his love for his best friend's widow. Let's have a woman who's moving on and a hero who can't.
Can you have different kinds of soulmates? Or one? How will I explore that in a happy marriage? How will I resolve the story so the reader believes that this man and no other is the 'one' while developing an affection for the late husband.
It goes on for another few paragraphs. The point of posting. Yeah, crazy. Particularly now as I'm doing this again with a new book.
One of her questions was, Can you describe your writing process/timeframe from when you start a new book to handing it in at deadline?
Here's my draft answer:
Let's take the last book I turned in as it's fresh - Bring Him Home, out June 2012. I have an idea. A guy falls in love with his army buddy's widow. And I push it to the nth degree. What if he had to make a Sophy's Choice (lesser of two evils) in the ambush that killed his buddy. What if his buddy was complicit in that choice? What if he's so scarred emotionally he turns his back on his friends, the only family he has. What if his best friend's widow forces him to come home because his signature in a family trust is required in order for her sell the home and invest in a business. What if she hasn't forgiven her late husband for something and the hero acts as go between. What if his own redemption is increasingly tied to reconciling the widow to her late husband at the same time he falls in love with her.
I also look at genre conventions and try and twist them. Let's have a widow who adored her husband. Let's have the late husband a major character in the book. Let's have the love triangle about the hero's loyalty to his best friend as much as his love for his best friend's widow. Let's have a woman who's moving on and a hero who can't.
Can you have different kinds of soulmates? Or one? How will I explore that in a happy marriage? How will I resolve the story so the reader believes that this man and no other is the 'one' while developing an affection for the late husband.
It goes on for another few paragraphs. The point of posting. Yeah, crazy. Particularly now as I'm doing this again with a new book.
