Kate Noble's Blog, page 25

First Winner!

Hello, and welcome to the first winner drawing in my most recent website contest.  And without further ado, the winner is…

REBEKAH YODER!

Huge congratulations to Rebekah!  You have won a copy of The Summer of You!  For those of you who didn't win, take heart – you are all still entered.  For those of you who haven't entered yet, here's a quick run down of the contest rules:

The Contest will run for 2 months.
There will be a winner drawn every two weeks.
To enter, go here, and answer the question — that's it!
Prize is your choice of Compromised, Revealed, or The Summer of You .
Once entered, you will remain entered for the full length of the contest.
One entry per person.

And that's it!  I'll be back tomorrow with my thoughts on that dreaded of all holidays, Valentine's Day, and what you can do about the impending hearts and flowers explosion about to engulf the internet.

Until next time, sweets, happy reading!

Overwhelmed and Loving It.

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Post-its. The greatest invention.

I would like to believe that I am the kind of person who would love nothing better than to have nothing to do.  To be able to say, I have nothing due, no pressing projects, no financial worries, no books to read, no movies in my queue, nothing to post. And if this happened, I would like to believe that I would be able to relax.  Unfortunately, empirical evidence shows this hypothesis to be absolutely false.

I am the type of person who, upon completion of a project, immediately has to fill the void left by the project.  This is unrelated to how many other projects I happen to be working on at any given point in time.  Case in point:  I turned in a project at the beginning of January.  Which made me feel very good.  Very fulfilled.  Do I take the opportunity in my slightly lightened schedule to, say, put a dent in my next novel, who's due date is rapidly approaching?  Do I pre-write all my blogs for my Bonanza Blog Tour for the release of If I Fall on April 3rd?  Do I prepare my tax returns?

NO.  Of course not!  Why would I do something as silly as all that?  Instead, what I've done is pitched a new project to my reps, started taking pottery classes, planned a trip to Peru, and begun putting together a business plan for Super Sekrit Awesome Project (which I hope to tell you about in the near future.)

The truth of the matter is, its been a long time since I've had nothing to do.  So long in fact, I do not know if I could function without a minimum level of things to juggle at any given time.  And… I like it.  Life is too short to not have anything to do.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Not a lot going on this week — other than the crazy that is my normal. BUT, in the very near future, I am going to be visiting a few fabulous friends' blogs — including the incomparable Sarah MacLean.  And don't forget about my BRAND NEW website contest!  You could win an autographed copy of your choice of my backlist — and there is a brand new winner chosen every two weeks, so there are loads of chances to win!

Until next time sweets, Happy Reading!

We have a Winner!

The website contest has come to a close and that means I must draw a winner.  Thus without further ado, that winner is….

Mary Dole!

Congrats Mary!  You have won a $25 Amazon gift card.  Now you can get yourself what you really wanted to Christmas.

For those who didn't win, take heart.  There is a brand new contest starting soon, as well as a brand new excerpt of If I Fall, and I cannot wait for you to see the cover art for the novella.  I am swooning already.  Swooning, I tell you!

Until next time sweets, happy reading!

XOXO

[image error]I have been watching waaaaay too much Gossip Girl of late.  This is a byproduct of being without cable television.  As Gossip Girl is available on Netflix streaming, I am able to blaze through past seasons of a pop culture lexicon that I missed the first time around.   And I am engrossed.  But aside from all the fantastic clothes, the eminently quotable dialogue, and the soapy drama, one of the reasons that I'm enjoying the show is they use traditional romance novel tropes to great effect. (Which makes sense, since the show is based on a series of YA books.) I watch every episode, playing a game I like to call:

 

Spot the Trope on the Upper East Side

(note: I'm currently in the third season of the show, so all references are from that period.  If anything changes in seasons 4 and 5, don't spoil it for me, kids.)

Trope #1: Enemies to Lovers

Blair and Chuck are the IT couple of Gossip Girl for me.  I know the Serena/Dan romance is what started the show, but Blair and Chuck have legs.  Heck, some might even call Chuck a reformed rake.  (Or, at least, he's reformed when he's with Blair.)  They have heat.  They have fun.  Whenever they are on screen, you are not about to go stand up and get another glass of lemonade.  And if you recall correctly, they started out as enemies.  Blair always trying to stay on top of the social ladder, and Chuck gleefully playing out every 17-year-old's dissipated fantasy at the bottom.  But once they steamed up the windows in the back of the limo, their perpetual war seemed a helluva lot less like battle and more like… foreplay.

Trope #2: Old Love Comes Back

Yes, Serena and Dan break up and get back together at least 3 times a season, but this trope for me is defined by their parents Lily and Rufus.

Lily and Rufus had the romance to end all romances back in the late 80s.  But they broke up, went their separate ways, but found themselves back together again later in life.  Who hasn't read a romance based on finding happiness with the love of your life the second time around?

Trope #3: Secret Baby!

So that aforementioned romance to end all romances from the 80s?  It had a little side effect, known as a secret baby.  That Rufus didn't know about, and that Lily had given up for adoption.  It is a classic example of the secret baby trope — the number of secret babies on romance novels could likely fill out a small country.

Trope #4: The Social Hierarchy is Here to Stay

In historical romance especially, there is a hierarchy that must be adhered to.  Titles of nobility certainly help delineate who's in charge and who's not, and on Gossip Girl, the title of Queen is bestowed upon the mean girl in charge of ruling the school.  Blair held this title with an iron fist, only to lose it time and again when her minions did something back-stabby (or, when she and Chuck steamed up those limo windows and everyone found out about it).  While an aristocratic title is harder to lose, social good standing is as slippery in the halls of Almack's as it is in the halls of St. Jude's prepatory school on the UES.

Trope #5: Class Differences.

Dan and Serena had to overcome the huge dived between Manhattan and Brooklyn.  So did Nate and Vanessa.  It's akin to the duke falling for the daughter of a merchant in historicals.  But on Gossip Girl, it doesn't seem to work out as well as in romances.

Trope #6: Misunderstandings Cause Problems.  Like, Duh.

This is the trope that annoys me the most, in romance novels and unfortunately, on Gossip Girl.  How many times has Vanessa or Little J overheard something and not gotten the whole story?  Or how many times has Serena not fully explained her motives to Dan and they end up breaking up because of it?

Because geez, if these kids would just talk to each other, like sane people, there would be so much less conflict, and they could all live happily ever after.  Although, that would mean there would be no show, so I guess I'll just have to take it with a grain of salt.

This week I have a ridiculous amount of writing and reading to do, not to mention a couple of Gossip Girl seasons to watch, so I'll be a busy bee.  But don't forget about my website contest!  It ends this week, so hurry hurry and enter!  Prize is a $25 Amazon gift card – you know you didn't get what you really wanted for Christmas a month ago…

Until later sweets, XOXO!

Research Frenzy

I have been in a research frenzy for the past week or so, trying to solidify one obscure tidbit about 19th century life that had been eluding me, but was important to my current WIP.  You might say, "a tiny tidbit?  Gimmie 15 minutes and Wikipedia and I'll find your tidbit for you, lickety-split!"  And I know, and I did, but here's the thing – research, for me, is a black hole..  I start out with an obscure tidbit, and suddenly, I can't write another word until I have read every last sentence in the books that I ordered on Amazon on the subject that is sort of related to the subject I initially needed to know.

The thing is, I LOVE research.  I love it.  I love finding out about the proper way to hold a fan (it turns out it depends on the message you want to send), or famous horse races in the 1800s (I personally like the Rowley Mile) or all about Lord Byron's time in Venice (he enjoyed it.  He enjoyed it so much, he got gonorrhea.)

You never know when you are going to find something that is going to come into play later.  A little previously unknown factoid can inspire an entire storyline that you wouldn't have thought of without delving that deep into research.

That said, you can't go too far down the rabbit hole.  At least, I can't.  Because if I did, I'd never get a book done.  Research, is all well in good, but it cannot get in the way of the story you are telling.  Because I'm not writing a story about fan holding, or horse races, or Byron.  I'm writing about people falling in love.

And the best way to tell that story is… to write it.

That's the writing lesson for this week.  Don't forget about my website contest!  There's a $25 Amazon gift card on the line, just in case you didn't get what you really wanted for Christmas.  And stay tuned, there are some very exciting announcements coming up! (Did someone say 'novella'?)

Until next time, sweets, Happy Reading!

Five of my Favorite Sites as an Author

As an author, I don't necessarily interact a lot with the world at large.  Oftentimes, we authors don't even get out of our pajamas on a daily basis (*ahem* like today, she said with undue shame).  But, there is a great deal of emotional, intellectual, and research needs that need to be filled.  Therefore, we authors turn to the internet.

The internet is a glorious world, where need only click to find people of like minds, who are fascinated by every word that drops from your fingertips.  But once you're done with Twitter, the internet is also an incredibly valuable resource.  It's also a place where one can keep tabs on the industry, research your genre, and find advice on the lonely, weird, exhausting, crazy, stupefying life of being a profeshunul writer.

Thus I give you, Five of my Favorite Sites as an Author!

I've divided this list into three categories: romance industry sites, writer advice sites, and research sites. There are other more standard sites that inform my writing (Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, heck, even IMDB when I need to find an actor's photo to inspire my hero) but these five are a little more out of the ordinary, and therefore hopefully a lot more interesting to you.

Romance Sites:

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

This site is run by Sarah Wendell, who is incredibly knowledgeable about everything romance (she's even written a couple books on the subject.)  All aspects of the Romance writing industry are covered on this site – from what people are reading that they like, to in depth discussions on the ever-evolving e-book industry to the cultural influences that shape romance novels and how they are a reflection on the era in which they are written.  And, they've read The Windflower. A lot.

Sarah Wendell, along with Jane Litte over at Dear Author (another Romance site I frequent, but they have a lot of overlap with Smart Bitches in terms of content, so I decided to mention them in the same breath here) even has a weekly podcast, talking about all things interesting in the romance novel world.

All About Romance

I wasn't always a writer of romance novels – like most of us I started out as a fan of the genre.  And I still am.  I like to know what's worth reading out there (and what's worth avoiding), and All About Romance is the gold standard of romance review sites.  They review hundreds of titles a month, and have an A-F grading system to make choices easy.  They also maintain two blogs, and a massive database of reviews that make them an excellent resource for any reading need.

(note: they also have an Annual Reader's Poll, which is up right now.  Do you want to go vote for Follow My Lead as your favorite 2011 romance?  I think you do…)

Writer Advice Sites:

JohnAugust.com

John August is a screenwriter.  He has written such films as Big Fish, Go, and The Nines.  It's a tough thing to become a working screenwriter, and so for every film he's had produced, there are probably a half dozen completed stories that were dropped somewhere in the production stream.

Even though he's never written a romance novel (to my knowledge) I find a great deal of his advice practical to any writer in any genre or field.  Even though romance novelists may not need to know the best way to format a script, we do very much need to know how to break down a story into its parts, how to effectively use dialogue, how to be mete out description and action in creating the world we want our characters to inhabit.  Fiction is fiction, whether it plays to a local book club or to a hundred million people on screen.

(note: John August also has a podcast, called Scriptnotes.  Worth listening to if you are ever curious about the crazy way Hollywood works.)

WaxCreative

A reality of the modern author is that they have to take charge of most of their own publicity.  And one of the most effective ways an author can reach a vast number of people is online.  Even before I had hired them to do my website, I was turning to WaxCreative, trying to glean as much information as I could about creating a smart online presence for my romance novels.

They create beautiful web pages (as evidenced here) and are incredibly smart about how to take advantage of social media, especially for romance authors.  They maintain a blog all about design and the latest advantages and ways to get one's voice out there.

Research Sites:

Candice Hern's Regency World

This is strictly for the Regency Author out there.  Prolific author Candice Hern has compiled a massive amount of Regency Era resources and material at Candice Hern's Regency World.  Whatever she doesn't know herself, she links to other sites that provide the wealth of information she doesn't have.  Whenever I need to know something Regency, I go here first.  (It's even made me discover mistakes – some of which could not be solved – especially relating to the weather in The Summer of You.)

That's all for this week!  The April 3rd release of If I Fall is getting closer and closer!  Read an exclusive sneak peek, and then don't forget to enter the contest!  Winner gets an Amazon gift card… which, if you want, can be used to pre-order some If I Fall goodness.

Also, I'm in the middle of planning my blog tour, so if you are a reviewer/blogger and wouldn't mind a visit from a crazy blonde anglophile this spring, contact me!

Until next week, kids, Happy Reading!

 

 

Turning the Cable Off: Going Analog in a Digital Age

Happy New Year, everyone!  I know many of you made resolutions for the New Year, and I usually make the normal ones: eat less, work out more, learn an instrument (the guitar from three years ago slowly collects dust in my closet). But this year, my boyfriend and I, tired of too many Real Housewives incarnations and the staggering bill every month, decided to try a more Lent-ish resolution.  We decided to give up cable.  For a year.

Now, I realize that for some, this would not be a hardship.  My boyfriend is decidedly fine with it because he didn't have cable until we moved in together (although it's worth noting that he certainly enjoyed watching Boardwalk Empire and anything on FX) but I LOVE television.  Love it.  I love being tapped into the latest going-ons, being able to take part in conversations the next with friends about what happened last night. I love fast forwarding through commercials.  I love storing up an entire season of Sons of Anarchy and watching them over the course of one weekend.  Pretty much the first thing I do when I wake up is turn on the TV so there's some noise while I make breakfast.

So I'm not expecting this challenge to be easy for me.  But here are some things that are making it easier.

1. The Antenna.

[image error]We actually turned off the cable about a week before Christmas.  Nothing was really on then anyway, and we wanted to start 2012 on a fresh billing cycle.  But we didn't give up TV altogether.  I wouldn't survive that (see above).  Instead, my boyfriend dug out his antenna and we hooked it up.  That's right.  Bunny ears.  The last time I lived with bunny ears is a distant memory.  But I have to say, it's pretty good so far.  I can still turn on the TV in the morning while making breakfast and listen to the Today Show — I just can't watch a marathon of Toddlers and Tiaras.  Which, quite frankly, is probably for the best.

The only hang-up here is in scheduling.  I'm used to making a series recording, and when the show popped up in my DVR queue, I was pleasantly surprised.  Now, if there is going to be a show on that I know I want to watch (like Downton Abbey, tonight!), I have to track down the time/channel its going to be on and commit to watching it then – not when the fancy strikes me.  Oh, and it has to be network, or PBS.  When The Walking Dead comes back, I'm going to be screwed.

2. Netflix

Yeah, we kept Netflix.  But I consider it a research expense.  I actually do need to watch that documentary about the evolution of the London Underground system, and that adaptation of the life of Beethoven.  (I haven't yet managed to justify watching the first season of Louie, but give me time and I'll think of one.) Tracking down all that information and those movies without having Netflix available to me would very likely cost me more than eight bucks a month.

One added benefit of giving up cable is I'm finally beginning to work my way through all that weird stuff I put on my Netflix queue. Who knew that I would like The Wind that Shakes the Barley so much?

3. Our Computers

It is amazing to me what we have managed to find available to watch for free on our computers.  I'm not talking about random YouTube clips, I'm talking about the latest episodes of Hoarders.  The latest Jersey Shore. (Although, I think I might be willing to skip this new season.  I'm just so tired.  Why aren't they tired?)

The boyfriend has a special cord so we can hook up our laptops to the TV, so it's not like we're watching on a tiny little computer screen.  Yes, it's a little more labor intensive to track shows down via their network's websites or Hulu (we haven't caved and gotten Hulu Plus yet – that might happen in the spring though), and yes, it kind of sucks having to have one of our computers unavailable to us while watching (I'm a multi-tasker, I feel naked without my computer on my lap), but so far, it's been worth it.

4. The Cable Bill

Now for some hard, cold numbers.  Before, when we had cable TV plus HBO bundled with internet, a regular bill – what with the rental charges for the boxes and remotes — would be about $150.  Well, we just got our first bill of the new regime, wherein we are charged for just internet.  The grand total?  $31.  So, if we do this for a year, saving $120 a month, we will save $1440 in 2012.

And that's enough for one helluva End of the World party.

I've got a long week of writing ahead of me – I'm getting super excited for the April 3rd release of If I Fall! I can't believe it's less than 3 months away – I've been setting up my blog tour, and we are going to have a lot of fun this time around.  But don't forget about my current contest!  Grand prize is a $25 gift card to Amazon – just in case you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, you'll be able to get it yourself.

Also, if you haven't had the chance to read my very first book Compromised, it's the romance novel of the week over at Free Book Friday!  Four autographed copies are up for grabs!

That's all for now, until next week, sweets – Happy Reading!

 

Two Thousand Eleven

It's the week before Christmas, and like a good percentage of you, I will be travelling to visit family. I'll be criss-crossing the country until 2012, and as such, I've decided the blog is going to take a vacation with me until the New Year.  But before I go, I decided to reflect on what the year 2011 has wrought.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2011

Wrote my fifth book, If I Fall , to be released in April 2012


Began book six (still doesn't have a title – but that's a project for 2012)


Wrote a novella – yes, there will be a novella coming in the New Year!  Stay tuned for more details.


Wrote a super secret and yet awesome project, that I'll keep to myself for now.


Follow My Lead was released in May 2011 – and I'm so happy that people have loved it!


Made a book trailer – my first!


My website was redone, into the pretty prettiness you see before you.


Attended the Romantic Times Convention in LA, and the RWA Conference in NYC.

And perhaps the most important of all…

Survived the first full year of cohabitation with my boyfriend.

I'm pretty impressed with myself.  That said, however, I do have goals for 2012.  And I expect you to hold my feet to the fire for the coming year to help me accomplish them.

GOALS FOR 2012

Finish book 6 (and title it!) AND book 7


New novella (an anthology, perhaps?)


Structure a new historical romance series.


A new super secret project.


Attend RWA in Anaheim (it's drivable!  I can commute!)

And perhaps, most important of all…

Teach boyfriend to load/run/unload the dishwasher.

I think that's enough of a weight to place on 2012 for now.  I hope you all have a wonderful, merry, happy holiday.  I'll be back in January but until then, don't forget about my website contest – one lucky winner will get an Amazon gift card… so if you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, you can go get it for yourself. 

Enjoy a marvelous end to 2011 and usher in the New Year with a bang!  Until 2012, sweets, Happy Reading!

Prize Winner!

Congrats Susan, here's your prize!

And we have a winner, Ladies and Gentlemen!  Without further ado, the winner of my website contest, who makes off with a basket of books by Shana Galen, Katharine Ashe, Mia Marlowe, Vanessa Kelly, Ashley March, Emma Wildes, Sophie Jordan, Lila DiPasqua, Monica Burns and Tracey Jane Jackson (and me!) is…

SUSAN DAVCO!!

Huge congratulations, Susan.  Just in time for Christmas, too!

If you didn't win, take heart!  There will be a brand new contest posted in a few days (and a brand new sneak peek of If I Fall, too!)  I shall keep you apprised when it goes up.  But until then, sweets, Happy Reading!

How I Create my Heroes and Heroines.

One of the questions that I (and probably every other novelist) get is "How do you come up with your characters?"  The answer varies.  Some authors cop to having voices in their head, and they are just taking dictation.  Some authors draw on what they see around them, one people they read about or see on TV, or those they actually know.  (I may or may not have a T-shirt that says "Careful, or I'll put you in my novel.")  For me, it's a little bit of both.

The most important characters in a romance novel are unquestionably the hero and heroine.  The main pair.  Their relationship is the driving force of the entire story.  Oh, there might be a highwayman on the loose, or a crazy road trip across Europe that takes them from one point to another, but that's not what the audience is sticking around for.  Romance novels are about the romance, and anyone who says differently is selling something.  Hence, the finer drawn the hero/heroine, the more engrossing the story.

For me, I always start with one.  One of the pair will always be clearer in my mind than the other.  And, more often than not, for me, it's the heroine.  Some work from the outside in – I tend to do the opposite.  So I start with her personality – not her physicality.  I don't care yet what her hair color is, or if she is tall or short, or curvy or reed thin.  I care most about that one central trait that is going to define everything else she does.

For example:  This is a line from Revealed, about the heroine, Phillippa Benning:

It was uncommon for someone so young to rule the Ton (she was just one and twenty), but when it came to Mrs. Phillippa Benning, it was unquestionable. Her favor could make or break a novel's success, a modiste's reputation, a hostess's event, a young debutante's popularity, or a young buck's heart.

And she knew it.

The minute I wrote those last four words, I knew I had her.  I knew exactly who she was going to be, how she was going to act, and how everything around her reacted to her.  I thought about women who acted like that – that sat on top of the world without false modesty.  And the person who came to my mind most sharply was Paris Hilton.

Now, I may not know Ms. Hilton personally, but I'm very familiar with the persona she presents to the world.  When I thought of her, Phillippa began to physically.  She would be willowy, blond, and never, ever vulnerable.  (And she had a Pomeranian.)

Of course I wanted to create someone who would be deeper than what we see on the surface – but shading out Phillippa came from writing the story more than anything else.  Once I got to know her, she started talking to me, and I began just taking dictation.

Now, I said I always start with one.  Well, what about the other?  In creating the other character (in general for me, the hero) I can use the heroine as a starting off point.  You see, for the heroine to experience the personal growth necessary to fall in love, they must be challenged.  So, while Phillippa Benning was created as snobby, rich, and wrapped up in being the Queen Bee of the ton, the hero Marcus Worth, ended up being none of those things.  He was kind, poor, and his entire life was devoted to far more serious pursuits than wearing the best dress and knowing the latest gossip.  Put Marcus and Phillippa in the same room together (or the same sarcophagus) and there is instant conflict.

(Caveat:  that's not to say that there are not beautifully written romances about two people that are very similar who come together in love. But I guarantee you that if you look closely, there is something fundamental about one or both of them that has to change for them to be happy.)

Now, that's not to say that Marcus existed solely to bring Phillippa around.  Quite the opposite in fact.  He has his own agenda, his own barriers to overcome.  But at least for me, the one who exists first in my mind is the one who ends up undergoing the most change.  And the one would comes along in response to that character is a major catalyst for that change.

I'd love to hear from other authors, about how their characters come to them – do they spring to mind fully formed (like JK Rowling has often said she came up with Harry Potter), or does it take some time, getting to know them?

HUGE basket! Loads of books! Go enter now!

That's all for today – but remember the website contest with the HUGE prize basket is still open!  Tomorrow is the last day, so hurry up and enter!

Until later, sweets – Happy Reading!