R.A. Vaughn's Blog

The Popular Romance Project has a post up featuring the ladies of Attacking Page at the New York Romance Writers of America national conference. The video is a short snippet from our Kick Butt Heroes workshop where we discuss knife fighting. Check it out if you’d like to see Kathy repeatedly stab me with a knife. – Melinda Leigh

http://popularromanceproject.org/behind-scenes/2205/

Memorial Day.  It’s not just a day off from school or a great day for a BBQ.  It’s the one day out of the year we stop to give thanks to the men and women who have given their lives for our country.

Romance writers create heroes all the time.  In fact, I’m writing a story about an Iraq War veteran right now. Every member of our armed forces who puts his or her life at risk to keep our country safe is a hero. As I’ve read on a number of Facebook walls this week, freedom isn’t free.

Here on the East Coast, the weather is forecast to be terrific. But before you fire up that grill or head to Main Street for the big parade, give all the brave men and women of our armed forces a thought. If you know someone whose loved one has died in service of our country, give them a call or stop by and thank them.  Let them know their sacrifice has meaning, and that we’re all thinking of them today.

This is very similar to my new bed.

Memorial Day is coming this weekend. I hope everyone has more entertaining plans than mine. My plan for the weekend is to toss a burger on the grill while I wait for my new mattress to be delivered. It will be good to finally get it though,  since I’ve been waiting for it for a  few weeks. That’s because what started as a simple project turned into a massive project.  Let me tell you a bit about this saga.

My mother is a master of the impulse buy and she loves to shop online. I have no idea what whim possessed her to go look at mattress prices, but one day after work a few weeks back I get a call from her, Apparently the mattress that I’ve wanted for a while was going to be on sale.  Rock on. Shopping is awesome, sale shopping is even better. It’s only a one day sale, though,  so we have to go on Saturday. Sure, no problem. So off we go to the mattress store and out we come an hour later with a receipt for a new mattress and bags of new linens.

As we’re driving home, Mom says in her I-feel-a-project-coming-on voice, I think we need to get you a new bed frame. Let me explain something about my Mom, she gets her project inspiration from her purchases and not the other way around. It’s sort of a while we’re at it type of thing.  Suffice it to say that the purchase of a new mattress led to the purchase of a new bed frame, lead to a complete cleaning and rearranging of my bedroom.

That’s where it gets interesting.  The frame arrived last Wednesday. Between Wednesday and Friday, we’d empty all the crap out of the room (The living room currently looks like a Good Will drop off center).  I had plans Saturday, so Sunday was going to be the final clean up and assembly day.

I roll out of bed at 10am, and Mom is in the computer room making plans for a trip to Disney. The way we do Disney extensive pre-planning is involved so that took some time. Then a very long session of Jewel Quest playing was needed, because it’s Sunday and we should relax some right? Around 6 that night I’ve assumed that we’re just not going to get this bed set up this weekend. But sure enough, 6:30 rolls around and, according to Mom,  it’s time to get this cleaning party started. Are you kidding me?!

This isn’t the first time Mom has done this, but for some reason I never cease to be surprised by it. So here we are 7:00 at night we’re vacuuming, moving furniture around, hauling the old bed frame out of the house. Then we start in on dust mopping, wet mopping, and waxing the floor. Because space is limited however, we have to do this in section and naturally, it’s necessary to play a game or two of Jewel Quest while each section dries. So here it is 11:30, I’m fading fast, and Mom says well we still have one section left of mopping do you want to try and put the bed frame together tonight? It should probably take about an hour. Love you, Mom, but seriously? Heck no, I’m going to bed.

I dropped the mattress on the newly cleaned floor grabbed a blanket and crashed. On Monday night we tackled the final section of the floor and then began the bed assembly. Four hours later, I had a bed (so much for a 1 hr set up). Oh, as an aside, I put the old mattress and box spring on the new frame, and when I climbed on I felt like the princess and the pea. I needed ladder to get in that thing and don’t sit up in bed you’ll get beheaded by the ceiling fan. Needless to say we removed the box spring.  Anyway, you’d think the story would end there, but guess what folks, it doesn’t. Also on her to-do list for the room is paint, change out the sockets, replace the ceiling fan and I’m sure the list will keep going from there. When Mom is on a roll, watch out.

There is no doubt that my Mom is a character. It’s quirky traits, like her tendency of turning a one time purchase into a weeks long project, that we can add to characters that we create in our books to make them real and endearing to our readers. Look around your world, I’m sure you’ve got a few friends and family members that can offer some interesting and unique character inspiration.

In the meantime, wish me luck this weekend and have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Summer is almost here. Blockbuster movies about comic book characters are going to start filling the theaters. With that in mind, along with  a deep seated need to finally see The Avengers, I thought I’d share a few fun fact about Wonder Woman. I know, I know she’s from DC Comics not Marvel, but you get the connection.  As we may have already mentioned, Wonder Woman was the inspiration behind the Amazon series that, Melinda and I  write together. With the draft of my current WIP almost done, we’re are making plans to finally finish up the sequel to Amazon Heat.  So, what better inspiration then to share a few fun fact about an awesome super hero who kicks butt in an awesome pair of boots.

Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston (the inventor of the polygraph).
Wonder Woman’s alter ego is Diana Prince/Princess Diana of Themyscira.
Wonder Woman made her first appearance in December 1941 in All-Star Comics #8.
In creating her William Marston wanted to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.
Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor — a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons’ isolated island homeland — to “Man’s World” and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis. Her origin story was later revamped to increase her Hellenic and mythological roots. She received the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury.” Her origin was changed yet again in 2011 making her a demigod, the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus.
Wonder Woman had arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.
In the television show the bullet proof material the braclets were formed of was called ‘Feminum’. In the comic books, it was called ‘Amazonium’.
Wonder Woman spinning into costume was also solely a television fixture. She would spin her lasso around herself in the comic books to transform.
She depict her as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts.
In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN’s Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

So now I ask, who is your favorite superhero and why?

~Rayna/R.A.

When I was offered a two-book deal in April, I was both thrilled and terrified. Thrilled the editor loved my story enough to buy it, and terrified she wanted the sequel, which hasn’t been written yet. Yikes! I’m such a slow writer. How am I going to get this book done in six months when it took years to finish the others?

Frankly, I learned two things: (A) Fear is a great motivator. And (B) I needed structure. No more wasting time writing, rewriting, and polishing scenes or chapters that only ended up getting changed or deleted altogether because the story veered off in a different direction. I had to know my plot, my character arcs, and what direction the story was headed from the moment I sat down to write. But what tool would help me do all that?

Hello, Michael Hauge’s Six-Stage Plot Structure.

I took out my notes from Michael Hauge’s workshop at last year’s RWA nationals and read what he had to say about character arcs and plotting. The following are my notes taken from his workshop, as well as his website and YouTube videos. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me. (It enabled me to clearly outline an entire 100,000 word story in only three weeks. My editor gave her approval the next day to start writing it with no suggested changes. Woo hoo!)

A character arcs when he moves from his identity to essence.

Identity = emotional armor (facade) worn to protect himself from some wound.

Essence = who the character is when the emotional armor is stripped. True self.

What is your hero’s wound? From the wound grows a fear. This fear gives IDENTITY (emotional armor) to the character.

The character should have a physical goal, but that goal is primarily a symbol. It represents an emotional need (the true goal). The end reward must satisfy the character’s emotional need.

The only way the character can get to his longing (his emotional need) is to step out of his IDENTITY (emotional armor) and into his ESSENCE (true self).

Once you’ve established your hero’s WOUND, FEAR, IDENTITY, ESSENCE, EMOTIONAL NEED and PHYSICAL OUTER GOAL, we can move onto The Six Stage Plot Structure. Note: Stages are the Inner Journey. Since I write romance, I’ve included two Inner journeys–one for the hero and one for the heroine. Turning Points are the Outer Journey (the physical goal).

Stage I – Set up: Living fully within Identity (facade)

Heroine:
Hero:

First Turning Point – Opportunity: Change from stable to unstable world

Stage II – The New Situation: This is where we…

Glimpse the hero’s essence (true self):
Glimpse the heroine’s essence (true self):
Introduce Nemesis:
Introduce Reflection character: (sidekick, mentor, partner who helps hero achieve outer goal)

Second Turning Point – Change of Plans: Something happens that makes the hero realize he must do “this” (a specific, visible, established goal).

Stage III - Progress: Moving towards Essence without leaving identity. Hero/ Heroine makes a plan to accomplish goal, which seems to be working until…TP3.

Heroine:
Hero:

Third Turning Point - Point of No Return: (in a romance this could also be the 1st kiss/date/sex) traveler is closer to destination than origin. Hero is so committed to his goal that there is no turning back. Character has changed so much she can’t go back to who she was at the beginning.

Stage IV – Complications and Higher Stakes: Fully committed to Essence but growing fear. It’s more important to achieve goal, but more difficult. There is more to lose than “failure,” they will lose their Destiny.

Heroine:
Hero:

Fourth Turning Point - Black Moment: All is lost (H/H will never be together)

Stage V – Final Push: Last attempt to achieve goal or die trying. Living one’s truth (ESSENCE) with everything to lose.

Heroine:
Hero:

Fifth Turning Point – Climax: Turns everything back to stability. “Wins”

Stage VI – Aftermath: The Journey complete. Destiny achieved.

Heroine:
Hero:

For more information on Michael Hauges Six-Stage Plot structure, please visit his website at www.Storymastery.com. If you will be at the RWA national Conference in Anaheim, CA this July, be sure to attend his workshop!

~K.M. Fawcett

The internet can be a wonderful place to find information, but it can also be a nasty place as people (kids and adults) find it much easier to spew their venom from behind a computer screen. Just read a few YouTube comments on any video and you’ll see what I mean. As our kids are connected to the internet at earlier ages, it seems to me cyberbullying is becoming more and more rampant. My daughter’s school recently sent home some safety tips on Cyberbullying that I wanted to pass on you. The information comes from the Connect Safely website. Please share this information with your children, as cyberbullying can be very hurtful and very serious. For more information about Connect Safely, visit their website at www.connectsafely.org.

Tips To Help Stop Cyberbullying

Here are some tips if you or someone you know is being bullied – and advice for ending (or preventing) the cycle of aggression.

Don’t respond. If someone bullies you, remember that your reaction is usually exactly what the bully wants. It gives him or her power over you. Who wants to empower a bully?

Don’t retaliate. Getting back at the bully turns you into one and reinforces the bully’s behavior. Help avoid a whole cycle of aggression.

Save the evidence. The only good news about digital bullying is that the harassing messages can usually be captured, saved, and shown to someone who can help. Save evidence even if it’s minor stuff – in case things escalate.

Block the bully. If the harassment’s coming in the form of instant messages, texts, or profile comments, do yourself a favor: Use preferences or privacy tools to block the person. If it’s in chat, leave the “room.” This may not end the problem, but you don’t need harassment in your face all the time, and no reaction sometimes makes aggressors bored so they’ll stop.

Reach out for help. You deserve backup. Of course you know there are different kinds of help, from talking with a friend to seeing if there’s a trusted adult who can help. It’s usually good to involve a parent but – if you can’t – a school counselor can sometimes be helpful. If you’re really nervous about saying something, see if there’s a way to report the incident anonymously at school. Sometimes this can result in bullies getting the help they need to change their behavior.

Use reporting tools. If the bullying took place via a social network, use that service’s reporting or “abuse” tools. The social network may also have “social abuse-reporting” tools, which allow you to forward hurtful content to a trusted friend or directly ask someone to take offensive content down. If the abuse threatens physical harm, you may have to call the police, but think about involving a parent if you do.

Be civil. You’re doing yourself a favor. Even if you don’t like a person, it’s a good idea to be decent and not sink to his or her level. Research shows that gossiping about and “trash talking” others increase your risk of being bullied.

Don’t be a bully. You know the old saying about walking a mile in someone’s shoes; even a few seconds of thinking about how another person might feel can put a big damper on aggression. That’s needed in this world.

Be a friend, not a bystander. Forwarding mean messages or just standing by and doing nothing empowers bullies and hurts victims even more. If you can, tell bullies to stop, or let them know bullying is not cool – it’s cruel abuse of fellow human beings. If you can’t stop the bully, at least try to help the victim and report the behavior.

Please contact admin@connectsafely.org for permission to reprint or post.

Stay Safe on and off the internet!

~K.M. Fawcett

We’ve discussed different kicks and punches your characters can use in a fight. But before he can deliver any of those, your hero needs to react to the villain’s attack (we all know the villain throws the first punch.) When your villain delivers a blow to your hero, you have four options for your hero (or a combination of these options). You should vary his responses to keep the fight fresh and interesting.  Your hero can:

1. Evade the punch/kick by moving out of the way. A trained fighter instinctively angles off, so he’s still close enough for a counter strike.

2. Block or halt the punch with a counter move, something we like to refer to as “beat it or eat it” in karate. A possible block scenario:  your villain cocks his arm back and throws a looping hook punch, but the hero is on him before the punch fully extends, blocking the blow with his forearm or tackling him to the ground.  (In reality, most fights end up on the ground.)

3. Redirect or parry the incoming blow. The villain throws a jab. Your hero slaps it down and out of the way with an open hand.

4. Get hit. The hero can’t avoid every blow. The fight won’t last long if the villain never lands a punch. While he shouldn’t be the inferior fighter, letting him get pummeled a bit increases tension.  The reader wonders if he’ll win or lose the fight.  Remember how awful Sylvester Stallone looked in the end of Rocky?  Check out the picture.   Rocky’s been hammered so hard his eye has swollen shut. This is the scene when Rocky begs Mick to cut his eyelid to release fluid so he can see.  Am I the only one who cringed when I saw this for the first time?  Even though I KNEW he had to win the fight, at this point I was doubting that he could.  Genius!

The villain can be larger than your hero. He can brings his hired help, so your hero has to fight more than one person at the same time.  Your villain can cheat.   He is a lowlife, after all.  Hidden weapons, ambush, covertly administered drugs, the list is as endless as your imagination is twisted.

So have fun with your next fight on the page.  Make your villain a worthy opponent.  Make him challenge your hero.  Find unique ways for him to cheat and vary your hero’s responses to keep things interesting.

Originally posted on Attacking The Page 9/6/2010.

Today, I want to send a huge congratulations to our own Rayna Vause for earning her brown belt!

Progressing through karate takes commitment and focus. The student must condition both her body and mind. A curriculum had to be learned, muscles trained to perform maneuvers that feel unnatural at first.   There’s no substitute for time on the mat and repetition. Basic strikes, katas, and techniques must be repeated hundreds of times before a student is proficient.  Brown belt is the level where training gets more serious. Lower level belts are pushed, but at brown belt, Sensei expects a higher level of dedication and proficiency from students.

Rayna and I train at the same karate studio. She’s worked hard over the past couple of years. So, I hope you’ll all join me in giving her a virtual pat on the back. She’s earned it.

I love a good deadline. Why? As queen of the procrastinators, I like having that outside force telling when I need to have projects completed. If I have a deadline I know exactly how long I have to mess around before I really have to get serious and get down to business. This is a good thing right? As published authors we need to be able to work within a deadline. But what happens if you don’t have a deadline. How do you keep moving forward when the siren song of the latest release from [insert favorite authors here] is tempting you away from the WIP? Or maybe the next season of your favorite tv show just came out on DVD and you’re feeling a marathon coming on, pick your distraction. Yeah, yeah willpower, blah, blah self control. No seriously. Set your own deadline you say. It’s an excellent idea, but without that external influence they can be very hard to stick too. It’s way too easy to let life get in your way. For some picking an arbitrary end date and working to complete your project is effective or others not so much. So what do you do if you’re in the latter group? How do you stay on track if you don’t have a publisher’s deadline looming over you?

 

Here are a few ideas to help keep you on track.

 

I find it most effective to make myself accountable in some way. Find a critique partner or just a writing pal that you have to submit a certain number of pages to every week.

 

Bribe yourself. If you meet your deadline you get to treat yourself to something you really want.

 

Let others set the goal for you. For example, use the deadline of a contest that you want to enter as your ending date. When I wrote The Demon He Knows I was actually writing it response to a publisher’s call submissions. I knew when my story had to be on the editor’s desk, so I could plan accordingly. There was no guarantee of sale. I was just taking a chance. At the end of the day, I still had a completed story that I could shop to other publishers.

 

Any one else have tips or tricks that they use to keep themselves on track?

 

Search Engine Optimization or SEO. It’s a term that’s bandied about quite often these days. What is it exactly? Why is it important for authors to understand.  Today, Terry Kate of Paco Media Group joins us to shed some light on this topic.

*****

If you haven’t run screaming just based on the title of my post then you are a valiant, brave, and intrepid author. If you have lived in fear of being called out and asked to explain what Search Engine Optimization is and how it effects author searchability, branding and sales, fear no more. There is a central and basic truth to the whole concept and how to make it work for you.

My Advice?

Spit it out!

Make it simple!

Don’t play coy with the readers! SEO is basically describing your work so that people interested in reading it can FIND YOU. So help a reader out and introduce yourself, what you write, and where we can find the books online. Make it easy for us to make the next step, click through on a link and buy the book.

Step One: Know what the heck it is that you are writing! Maybe that came out wrong, but really, how can you expect people to find you and your books if the genre is never listed? What about the theme? Or the time period?

Step Two: Don’t be afraid to repeat this information where ever you go online. Don’t belabor the point, but keep in mind there are always readers discovering you online when they check out a new blog, or a friend’s review on Goodreads. There are authors every time a reader looks around. Names blur, titles sound similar, covers are… not always unique, so share details that will hook readers on the prowl for just what is is you are writing.

“As an author of Vampire Romance…”

“I have always been drawn to Dark Urban Fantasy, BOOK TITLE HERE is just the kind of story I looked for as a reader and could not find. So I wrote it! “

Step Three: Be consistent. Use the same wording in the different posts you do. If it is a “Coming of Age” story then that is your term. Avoid switching it all of the time. “A novel of discovery” “Growing up with divorced parents” “The transition to adulthood” (Okay these may not be killer examples, but I am warning you, use the clearest and easiest description.)

On the most basic level this is what SEO does and how you can use it to connect with readers. Once you make that connection it is up to your product to sell itself. A good cover, a solid description, and clear genre labels, and you can draw in an already interested reader. Add a killer excerpt to really hook them and you got a sale.

I want to thank Rayna so much for having me on. I will be dropping in all day to reply to comments and you can see more posts by me at Paco Media Group. The site will be addressing all of the basic issues I teach courses on and do public speaking about. Because author brand is important, and developing an online presence is something you can control and influence.

Thank you again everyone for your time in checking this out.

Terry Kate

Bio: Terry Kate is the creator of Romance in the Backseat, the Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference. She entered the Publishing Industry as a member of the press and slowly transitioned to consulting, teaching classes, and finally web designer/SEO specialist. Find out more about Paco Media Group and their services at http://pacomediagroup.com.