Kelly Jamieson's Blog, page 45

Lest we forget...

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Yes I AM on a Kristan Higgins binge! This week I finished off  All I Ever Wanted and immediately bought The Next Best Thing. This one has my heart aching for Ethan. Although there is no male POV in her stories (that I've read so far, anyway) I can see what's going on with him so clearly, which is really well done. Pretty sure I'm going to read another KH book after this...

WIPs and Chains

So how do you like the new photo? I'm kinda liking it!

This past week I've continued working on my two main works in progress, going back and forth between them, and it's been going great! I've been cranking out some great word count, though I did get a little hung up yesterday, so I went for a run and did some yard work. Today I broke through the little writer's block.

Last week I also spent some time working on a plotting spreadsheet. This isn't as scary as it sounds. I've learned I'm not a plotter, or I shouldn't be anyway, because it takes all the fun out of writing when I know what's going to happen. But as I write (this is my own process) I have some looseleaf sheets that I jot down notes about each scene and chapter - the page numbers, whose point of view it's in, a few words about what happens. This helps me pace myself, so I know when I need a hook to end a scene or chapter, so I know I'm not writing too much in one character's point of view, and so I know when I'm getting close to a turning point (which I do plan out ahead). Lately I've been highlighting the character POV with different colour markers and adding in the plot, subplot or secondary plot that's in the scene also with coloured pens, thanks to the last workshop I took.

So I decided to try a spreadsheet instead of paper and it's been working well. I could use it to plot the whole story, but I just use it to do my scene notes as I go. It shows the word count for each scene as well as the TOTAL word count, and I've got colours for each POV and plot line. It has spaces for the scene goal (which I usually know before I write) and a short summary of the scene (which I don't know until after I write it - sometimes those darn characters just take over!) So I'm pretty happy with my plot spreadsheet!

I'm loving this song right now

Sneak peek Friday

Here's a little snippet from my upcoming Ellora's Cave release, Taming Tara - coming November 26!!Also you can see the trailer here

      She poured a small amount of olive oil into a plastic cup. "Place it in the palm of your hand and cover it with your fingers to warm it," she instructed Joe, showing him with a small cup of her own. "After a minute or two, hold the cup under your nose to appreciate the bouquet of the oil."
     They lifted the cups to their noses.
     "Remember earlier I said the organoleptic properties were taste, aroma, feel?"
      He nodded. "It smells like olive oil," he said, wrinkling his nose and flashing those appealing dimples.
      She laughed. "Okay. Now place a small amount of oil on your lower lip, and with the tip of your tongue, taste the oil for its degree of sweetness."
      Oh God. This might have been a big mistake. Watching his tongue come out and lick his full bottom lip was so sexy. She cleared her throat. "Now, sip the oil and taste for spiciness, using the sides of your tongue."
      She waited.
      "First, what do you feel?" she asked him, watching his face.
      "Mmm…" His dark brows drew down. "It feels smooth…oily."
      "How about thick? Sticky? Cooling?"
      He shook his head. "Yes. It's thick and smooth but…not cooling, it's…warmer."
      Huh. How about that. "Good. And what do you taste?"
      "I would say this is…kind of peppery."
       "Wow. I'm impressed. Here, try it with some bread." She ripped a hunk off a crusty loaf and handed it to him. He dipped it in the oil and chewed on it thoughtfully.
      "It's peppery and warm, but not really biting."
      "It's not making you feel like you have to cough? Not burning in the back of the throat?"
      "I do feel it in the back of my throat, but not like I'm going to cough."
      "Good. It mellows over time. This is our Arbosana. It's a perfect complement to traditional, rustic dishes such as bruschetta with garlic, pasta and beans, panzanella."
      Joe grinned. "Sounds like home. And it's not pasta and beans—it's pasta e fagioli."
      He said it with an Italian roll to the words that was so freakin' sexy she felt herself melt deep inside.
      Drawing in a deep breath, she poured more oil into a clean cup and they continued their tasting. Watching Joe savor the tastes, closing his eyes to get a deeper appreciation of the aromas and tastes and feel of the oils was a disconcertingly arousing experience. He was a sensual man, obviously enjoying the sensory pleasures of the olive oils. Her lower abdomen grew warm and achy and she squeezed her thighs together.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Except it's Thurday *hanging head with shame at being such a delinquent blogger*

I finished Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Not my favourite book of hers either. It had a couple of funny moments, but for me there wasn't enough about Mnnie (cute name; get it?). I never sensed the maternal love Becky has for Minnie, in fact they didn't spend a lot of time together and when Minnie has "issues" they hire a professional nanny to deal with it instead of dealing with it themselves. That disappointed. me. I do sense another story coming, though, with Luke reconcilitation with his mother  - any bets?? :-)

I then read another Kristan Higgins books, Just One of the Guys. LOVED this book! Chastity really stuck in my mind, what a great character. Since I liked it so much, I bought All I Ever Wanted, also by Kristan Higgins. Just started it last night. My third book of hers and I'm starting to see the pattern...

WIPs and Chains

Okay - what happened to my picture!  Look at the thing go! Do you realize I never knew until just now that it was animated? I wonder if everyone else has been seeing that?  I think I may need to search out a new image! (Not that it's not appropriate for some of my stories!)

I've really been on a writing roll this week! I've been turning out between 2000 and 4000 words nearly every day, and man does it feel good after a long dry spell. Last week I mentioned I'd been working on Gabe's story and then switched over to With Strings Attached. I wrote and wrote on that story up until today, and then went back to Gabe's for a while. Gabe's story is at about 21,000 words and With Strings Attached is over 32,000 so I'm really happy with my progress. In fact, I was so busy writing I forgot to write this blog post yesterday. And now...cracking the WHIP...back to work!

New cover! Blurb!

Here's the cover I just got for my next Ellora's Cave release. 

Tara Lockhart has had to be tough and in control to prove to her grandfather, and the rest of the world, that she can run the family business. But when Grandpa hires Joe Scaletta to help manage the business, her control is threatened.

At Le Château, Tara believes she'll find what she really wants—men who will let her be strong and dominant and in control.

Joe is desperate to make a success of this job after his career tanked in a disastrous scandal. When he runs into Tara at Le Château, her Dominatrix act doesn't fool him—he can see the submission inside her. He knows if he can show her that side of herself, it will make his new job a helluva lot easier. But teaching Tara to see inside herself becomes more than just a business strategy—it becomes personal.

I don't have a release date yet so stay tuned!

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I finished Prince of Midnight by Laura Kinsale. It was a good book but not my favourite of hers. I found several times there was so much tension I had to put the book down. So many bad things happen! This story was mainly from the hero's point of view, which normally I like, and I did like this hero, Sophocles Trafalger :-), it was the heroine I had some problems with. She had a tragic past, certainly, but I think getting inside her head a little more would have made her more sympathetic. And I got frustrated because so many times they seemed so close to getting together but all that keeps them apart is their fear of expressing their feelings. Which is certainly a legitimate fear, except he'd told her over and over he loved her so I didn't quite get why she didn't believe him.

Now I'm reading Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Am I in a bad mood lately or what? Because I love Sophie Kinsella and I love Rebecca, except she has a baby now and I don't have as much patience for her selfishness. When you have a baby everything changes. Maybe that's what Bex will learn by the end of the book, I'm still just in the early chapters.

WIPs and Chains

Okay so the picture is ropes not chains...Well I've been successful at the writing this week! And it feels soooooo good!

I went back to Gabe's story. Sorry, I don't have a better title yet. I suck at titles. Sometimes they come so easy and perfect...and sometimes they just don't come. Did I tell you the story of titling my next EC release? No? Okay!
This story has to have gone through the most titles ever. When I first wrote it I called it What She Really Wants. I didn't like it. In its first incarnation it didn't have the BDSM elements and when I rewrote it I didn't think that really fit. I then named it Taming Carina. I thought it kind of went with the "Taming of the Shew" thing I had going, but I didn't really like that either. When I submitted it to my editor at EC I titled it Power Exchange. PERFECT!!! I loved it, and it went with my last story, Power Struggle. The stories aren't really connected other than by Le Chateau, the club the characters belong to, but I thought having a series of names was good. BUT...that title had already been used. Pout. I had to change it. Not only that, I had to change the hero's name because I'd used an overused name. Now THAT was painful. I'd come to know and love Cole...and suddenly had to change his name. I suggested two other names to my editor and she rejected both of them, one already used, another she felt didn't really give a good sense of the story. Finally, I ended up changing the heroine's name too, to Tara, and naming it Taming Tara, which has a better sound than Taming Carina. But both characters' names had to change. My god it was like changing the names of my teenage children, I tell you.

A little side story.

Anyhoo...I wrote a lot on Gabe's story. Realized I'd screwed up a little on his background, based on what I wrote about him in Power Struggle. Have to fix a few things, but should be easy. Got to a point where I was "written out". I wonder if other writers experience that? I sometimes write and write and write and then I'm just....done. For a while. Like I need to refill the well of inspiration or something. Sometimes it only takes going for a run, or doing something else for an hour...sometimes a little longer. Just need ideas to strike me.

This time instead of going for a run (which would have been healthier, I admit) I went back to another WIP, With String Attached. I read through the 11,000 words I'd written, seems like such a long time ago. It felt so laborious when I was writing that, and I know I was going through a hard time, but when I read it...wow! It was sharp and fun and seemed really easy!

My lesson this week: Have faith in your writing. Even when it seems hard, DO IT. (Like Nike says, LOL). Just do it.