Stephanie Bond's Blog, page 6

The Making of a Romance Trilogy–coming up with an idea, cont'd

Picking up where I left off with the list of keywords to brainstorm a concept for a contemporary romance trilogy, I started pulling out related words that made the most sense.  For example, since the romance reading audience is largely female, I assume that women would rather read about southern men (versus southern women), since southern guys fit the alpha romance novel hero archetype.  So…big, beefy, sexy southern men would be the focus of the trilogy.  Brothers, cousins?  Either would...

The Making of a Romance Trilogy–coming up with an idea

All writers have way more ideas than we'll ever write. Some ideas are merely situations and aren't enough to hang a full story on.  (With experience you can tell immediately which is which.)  Some ideas don't fit the market or that writer's chosen genre.  Other ideas can feel dated, or maybe repetitious of something the writer has written previously.  So while it's always difficult to cull through ideas and come up with the one that's right for a particular project, coming up with an idea...

A new blog series: The Making of a Romance Trilogy

I know, I know—I've been away from my blog for a while, although if you saw what all is on my project plate right now, I think you'd give me a pass!  But rest assured that sharing things about the writing life is still something I enjoy so, so much, ergo my new blogging project.  Next summer, Mira will be releasing a "big" romance trilogy of mine…and I thought I'd let you in on what happens behind the scenes all along the way.  Over the next several months until the first book is released...

Dust bunnies

Spring is here and with it…spring cleaning!  I have a lot of irons in the fire at the moment, and I'm guessing so do you.  But disorganization only makes things worse—I feel a tangible aversion to my desk when it gets too piled up.  So in between writing, I'm taking time here and there to spring clean files on my computer—to get rid of files I don't need, delete files from my recycle bin once and for all, and defragment my hard drive.  Ditto for files in my old fashioned file...

13.1 miles…and still standing!

I finished the half-marathon yesterday!  I'm not a fast runner—my time was 2hr. 44 min.—but it was the most enjoyable and healthy run I've had in four years of running this event, meaning I finished with no injuries and I felt pretty decent afterward, good enough to meet a friend for brunch and later, to go to a play.  It began raining on mile 3, then rained intermittently throughout.  It wasn't a downpour, and the moisture actually kept the temps nice and cool, but rain makes for a...

Meet my half-marathon sponsors!

On Sunday, March 21, I'll run the ING half-marathon in Atlanta for the fourth year, to prove to myself that my over-40 body can do it   AND to raise money for First Book, an organization that provides books to at-risk children.  I can honestly say I wouldn't be a writer today if not for the constant source of reading material I received growing up.  Stories are magical catalysts for imagination and escape–if you're a big reader, you probably share my belief that books are important to a...

Supporting a fellow writer

Writers tend to congregate.  We know the thrill of finding the right words, and the agony of coming up short of the story galloping through our head.  And we realize the huge accomplishment of bringing a creative project to fruition–we celebrate each other.  To that end, I'd like to give a shout out to new Atlanta writer friend Richard A. Cohen for his documentary FADED GLORY about a group of men of a certain age who form a men's baseball team to compete nationally.  The feat of meshing the s...

Focus on the "boring stuff"

Every once in a while, someone says something that hits me between the eyes, something that seems simple but is so profoundly wise, all I can do is marvel…and then strive to put it into practice.

I was recently reading a recap of comments made by O'Reilly Media ceo Tim O'Reilly to the publishing industry's Tools of Change conference.  His advice to publishers?  Focus on the "boring stuff."  He pointed out that a lot of what publishers do is not cool stuff, but is instead the mundane day to...

New Book!

Available NOW!  Wrapping up the books connected to the erotic bookclub is my February romance novel HER SEXY VALENTINE. In this lighthearted comedy, the last remaining member of the bookclub who hasn't found her happy ending is forced to experience Valentine's Day past, present, and future to give her a new outlook on the new man in her life. 

 

Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine gave HER SEXY VALENTINE 4 stars:

 "Bond uses her usual humor, intelligence and fine writing to present a totally...

Cast suggestions for Body Movers?

Some of you have already sent suggestions for who YOU'D like to see play Carlotta Wren, Wesley Wren, Hannah Kizer, Chance Hollander, Detective Jack Terry, Dr. Cooper Craft, Peter Ashford, and other characters in the BODY MOVERS series.  (So fun!) To make cast suggestions for BODY MOVERS the TV series and to see other readers' suggestions, go to http://storycasting.com/work.aspx?id=983ef2bb-7db6-45e6-aec5-e8b117f40407