Brita Addams's Blog, page 8

Cover Reveal for Serenity's Dream

In recent months, I had the opportunity to revisit my Sapphire Club series and it has been a great experience for many reasons.




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Serenity's Dream was my debut published title. Yes, I knew there were flaws, but any author will tell you that their first "baby" is special to them, despite the errors.



Though the visitation started out as a re-edit, I can never leave anything alone for long. Before starting the re-rewrite, I read every review and jotted down the criticisms of readers. I went to back to the drawing board, and in doing so, I enriched the story and expanded the text by 13k.



Haynes, who was a footman at the club, had niggled at me since the beginning. He was actually going to be the subject of the third book in the series, but then Phillip Allard outranked him (Phillip is a duke after all) and in doing so, got his own book.



It is no secret that Noble Romance has undergone many changes in recent months, but I have to believe that all will be well under the new leadership. That said, I am happy to have the opportunity to spruce up the Sapphire Club series. As time permits, I may revisit a couple of other titles, particularly A Minute After Midnight, which I think could use a few thousand more words, but for now, I am happy to have reworked Serenity's Dream, Lord Decadent's Obsession, and finally, Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess, which has a new title, Thornhill's Dilemma. The last two will come out over the next couple of months, I'm assuming.



Lord Decadent's Obsession is somewhat different in context, as again, I listened to the critique of the book. I'm quite pleased with the resultant expansion and story. This one is one track for a March re-release, fingers crossed and the creek don't rise.



Thornhill's Dilemma is all together different. A vastly different story, with some parts as they were, but many more not. I am finishing up the expansion, and have nearly doubled the word count. Readers wanted Alex to appear earlier in the story and he does, much earlier.



I have also added what I had intended as a sequel. This novel will probably come in at around 90k when finished and will be a proper story for my favorite characters of all time. It is happy, sad, poignant, and above all, reveals the characters as never before. I anticipate the release around April, if not sooner.



The Sapphire Club thrives and the characters are pleased that they got some additional screen time in the rewrites.  I'm happy with the result and I hope readers will be as well.

Writing the story, not meeting word count

I hope everyone's 2013 started out well and continues to be as it should.



All is well here. The writing is going according to schedule, as at the moment I an working on my French and Indian War novel, that has taken on a life of its own.



Toward the end of last year, I made a writing decision which will, ultimately, be the best for me. I will concentrate on novels from here on in. Novellas are great and I enjoy writing them, but readers want, or seem to, novels, full length, with layers of story. As a reader, I identify with that.



When I wrote Tarnished Gold, which is with Dreamspinner and will come out in April or May, my husband asked me "How is it going?"



My answer was always, "It's going, as Jack and Wyatt want it to."



I got to thinking about that and concluded that instead of writing for a specific word count, I was writing the story, as Jack and Wyatt "dictated" it to me. When I finished, I had 105k, the story spans twenty years, and it captures my two characters in situations we all live through in two decades--deaths of friends and family, self-discovery, realizations that things aren't always as they seem, and myriad other things that life throws at us all.



I don't want to write slices of life stories, nor do I want to write a 30k story, with the word count pre-determined. I've done that, and it no longer feels right. I don't want to write thinking, "Okay, one more sex scene and that'll do it." Or "Two more chapters should wrap this up," then check the word count meter.



As I rewrote Serenity's Dream, I found that there was no much more story there than I had written four years ago. The same with Lord Decadent's Obsession. With each of them, I added thousands of new words in new story, bringing the word counts up over 60k on each of them. I sent them off to my editor feeling as though I had no where else I could take these characters, that I had done them and their stories justice.



Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess has gotten the most thorough revamp, a significantly different story (with many elements of CT&D,) and a sequel, all wrapped up into what is now, Thornhill's Dilemma. I have always said that Phillip Allard, the Duke of Thornhill, was my favorite character of all I have written, and that didn't change. However, in what is likely to end up around 90k, his story is richer, more in depth, and, alas,  complete.



I started the rewrites with the intention of removing all the passive voice and filters, and ended up truly writing the stories. There is something very satisfying there, very rewarding. You get richer characters and a feeling that you have wrung every gesture out of them.



There are other books I'd like to rewrite. This year, when I get Free Me and In His Arms back, they will be combined in one volume. I've already rewritten Free Me and will work on IHA as time permits.



I have Love Immortal, but I think it will be awhile before I can get to that. Splendid Captivity as well. I received my rights back on them, but haven't had time to give them a good polishing before subbing them elsewhere.




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A few of the books I used for research for Tarnished Gold,
which is set in Old Hollywood, in the 19teens-1930's.

 Meanwhile, I research like a mad woman. Doing historicals is a passion, but it does require a tremendous amount of research. Thankfully, I love it. The French and Indian War, Rogers' Rangers, and Abenaki Indians have kept me busy, but what I have learned is amazing. I look forward to the subsequent books which are set during the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the American Civil War. The series deals with 100+ years in the lives of one family, living on the family farmstead in Upstate New York. How each generation deals with the legacy left from the prior one.



I come from the area where the stories take place. In my many years as a genealogist, I discovered that many of the homesteads that exist today are occupied by descendants of the original landowner. The concept fascinates me, particularly since my family always rented homes and never owned until I was out of the house.



A few years ago, I was invited, as the owner of a website for the town my mother grew up in, to attend a family reunion in that town. I met wonderful people, one, the owner of the great many acres of a homestead that was settled when the original settler, using his land grant given by the U.S. government. He was the first settler in my mother's hometown of Stephentown, New York. Asa Douglas discovered a beautiful piece of land that he and his family turned into a farm of some repute.



Today's owner is a direct descendant of that original settler and the land has stayed in the family for over two hundred years. Asa Douglas, a Revolutionary War hero, and his wife, Rebecca Wheeler, were the great grandparents of Stephen Arnold Douglas, known as The Little Giant. Famous in New York and Illinois politics, he is probably most famous for his debates against a guy who became president, Abraham Lincoln. Stephen Arnold Douglas was born on that farm in Stephentown.



As is my wont, I am immersed in history and I love it. Can't get enough. With that in mind, I am off the the French and Indian War. Joshua Boughton and Julia Goodhue are confronted with a family problem. I have my dictation pad out and I am ready to write down their solution.



Big hugs until next time,

Brita

Happy 2013

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Looking forward to the new year and more stories, to read and write. I hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve. I've got a glass of wine and a good book waiting.



Hugs.

Merry Christmas Everyone. Christmas reminiscence.

Merry Christmas, everyone!



This year has passed so quickly, it's difficult to imagine that it's Christmastime already.




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As with most families, we have had some surprises this year, mostly good ones, thankfully. Our youngest daughter got married to a wonderful man, giving us two of the best son-in-laws we could ever ask for.



Our son has found a lady who appreciates him, and while he struggles through the aftermath of divorce and child custody, he has a good job, a woman whom I wish he'd found years ago, and his daughter is growing into a lovely little girl, with a loving heart. I pray that 2013 will settle some matters for him and his mind will be at ease.



Our oldest daughter and family are nearby and we see them as often as time allows. Her husband works offshore, in the oil field and, fingers crossed, will be able to continue to take care of the family through his advancements at work.



My husband and I did some traveling--went to Las Vegas, for the first time in many years, and had a great time. From there, we went to Albuquerque to attend Gay Rom Lit. I met so many authors I admire as well as renewed acquaintances with others. Each year gets better for that conference and next year in Atlanta promises to be the best yet.



We are planning some travels in 2013, but until we announce the plans to the family, it's hush-hush. LOL We announce on Christmas Day!




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I always reflect a lot at this time of year. My mother, who left us thirteen years ago, after a long illness, lives in my heart always, but particularly at this time of year. She loved Christmas! There wasn't a surface in her house that didn't have a crocheted Santa or an angel. Her tree was amazing every year, loaded with her treasured ornaments and tinseled icicles that only she could put on the tree. You didn't know there was a specific way to put them on, did you? Well, my mother did and somehow, she thought she was the only person able to do it right.



Here we are, putting them on together. She always went back and corrected my placement. To this day, my tree is always sans icicles.




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I remember a Christmas long ago, when my mother and her siblings go together and bought my grandparents a new kitchen table and chairs. Red and white Formica was my grandmother's dream. They were poor folk, and Gram didn't know how to dream bigger.



I remember the menfolk bringing the table and chairs into my grandparent's kitchen, complete with a big red bow and new dishes, all set out. Someone had taken Gram and Gramp out for dinner and when they got back, everyone was excited to see the look on Gram's face.




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She came in the door, took a look at the gift, and said, "Hmm." That was it, she was a woman of few words, but in that sound, we all knew she loved it. The picture is Gram and part of Gramp, and if you look carefully, you'll see the big red bow in the middle, along with green Currier and Ives dishes. Oh, that was a spectacular Christmas.



When I was a little girl, Gram used to babysit a lot. One night, while my parent's were at a holiday party and while Gram snoozed nearby, I used Christmas tape to spell out Season's Greetings--on the living room wallpaper. I think I learned new curse words the next day as my Dad peeled the tape off the damaged paper. Though it happened a couple of years before this picture was taken, the spot was just below the little lamp on the wall. This picture is of my brother Eric, my mom, and me. Don't we look spiffy in our new robes? If I know Mom, we got new pjs and slippers, too. If I'm not mistaken, I think Mom made Eric's robe.












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Though I moved away right after high school, we would go back for Christmas as often as military service would allow. We spent two Christmases in Iceland, but before we left, our son Chris got to spend his first Christmas at my parent's house. For an eight month old child, he racked up a ton of gifts. My father loved Christmas, too, and went all out with the gift giving. Here he is after all the hub-bub, wearing the Santa outfit my sister gave him.




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It's hard to believe that now, he has a daughter of his own, and what a wonderful father he is. We'll miss them this year, as they have other plans, but I believe we will Skype with them sometime during the day. I love modern technology.



If I never remember another thing in my life, I will always remember the sound of their laughter. Those two can tease each other unmercifully.




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Time passes so quickly, and with it, our children grow up. Do I miss the 3 am wake ups on Christmas morning? Honestly, no, but the memory of them is precious. The excitement as they waited to open each gift. We don't have a "dive in" gift unveiling. Everyone sees what everyone else gets, each in turn. Yes, it prolongs the agony, but also the fun.






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I love looking at old pictures, and came across a couple a particularly treasure. When our oldest daughter was a little girl, I taught her how to vamp like Mae West, right down to the "Come up and see me sometime, big boy." Yes, I do know that isn't the exact quote. Here's a picture of Kim as my six year old Mae.



We stuffed balloons under her shirt and everyone got a giggle from it. She'll likely have something to say about me posting that pic here, but she's lucky it isn't on Facebook. One complaint, and I might just do that and tag her for full effect. Her husband would get a laugh out of it for sure, as would her son.




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Our youngest daughter loved the Christmas paper, for some reason, and often spent time buried beneath it. Now, she has a more sedate view of Christmas--it should be at Mom and Dad's house and that's that. I rather like that view. A bit different than when we'd travel to North Carolina to spend the holiday with my mother and father. here is Lindsay watching as I cut up her turkey, with my mother and nephew Stephen in the background.



I'll miss my sister this year. She is in North Carolina. For many years, we spent Christmas together and it seems a bit odd not to have her here.



I do however, have my best friend in the world with me this year, and every year. My husband is the most wonderful man in the world and without him, our little family would surely be lost. The girls dote on him and he loves every minute of it. I'll try to get a photo of them on his lap this year.



Some of the best times, for me, are spent with him, when the house is quiet, just us. We might be watching a movie or just reading, but when I look over and he's there, it makes everything all the better. His laughter makes my heart sing, and his smile is worth all the gold in old Midas's chest. His happiness is my greatest gift, truly.



From our house to yours, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.




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Our tree this year, with Mr. Stormee keeping watch for Santa.

I've discovered Pinterest

I've resisted Pinterest forever, but today, while watching movies, I succumbed to the lure. I found quite a few boards with Regency era clothing, which I love to look at and use as inspiration for the clothing my characters wear.



I started a Sapphire Club board, with all my inspirations for the characters and the place. I'd almost forgotten how much fun it was to revisit those old reasons.



I've just passed the halfway point in the rewrite of Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess. I've added five thousand new words so far, and a vastly different story arc. Alex comes into the story much earlier and there is a lot of backstory as well.



I'm anxious to finish Duchess and get back to the fourth book in the series. Then, I'll start plotting the fifth one. Haynes is speaking to me and I have story for him. I do love Haynes and I think readers of the series will like appreciate him.



I'm taking the afternoon off, taking in a movie with my honey. Have a good one.

A Case of the Bah-Humbugs

It's that time of year, when disorganization seems to infiltrate my life. Scattered thoughts on what to get who, which in itself, uses up an inordinate amount of time and brain cells. Then there is trying to fit everything in any given day. which leaves no room for spontaneous things that pop up.



I have a slight case of the Bah-Humbugs this year, something that rarely happens. I begrudgingly put up the tree, because the family will be over for Christmas, but I'm not sure we would have cared otherwise. No real explanation for it, just the way I feel.



I have many things going on, all good, sort of, which have taken a good share of my time since we returned from Gay Rom Lit in October. One publisher had taken a wobbly turn, so I requested my rights back to two of my titles, and received them, immediately, without question. Those titles, Love Immortal and Splendid Captivity, are going to undergo rewrites and expansion, and then I'm going to submit them to a new publisher. I haven't even started the process, so heaven only knows when they will be ready.



In November, I started rewriting and expanding my Sapphire Club series at Noble Romance. Two books are done, I'm working on the third and have a sequel started, 22k words in. Then I'm thinking I'm going to write yet another in the series.



Noble went pare-shaped in July, when the former Senior Editor (she often told people she was the owner,) left, apparently taking most records with her, while complaining that people were treating her so badly because she just walked out hours after announcing her departure. Promises were left unkept, books left in various stages of publication, and many authors left wondering what in the world was going on.



We've been introduced to the new CEO, and though he's a hardliner, someone who doesn't really listen to authors complaints or concerns, he is working hard to untangle the mess that the former SE created, and it is massive.



Since reversion of rights, something I asked for from the former SE, and she said she would return them "when I have time," the new regime isn't inclined to fulfill that promise. I'm okay with that, from the standpoint that I signed the contract, I've been paid every month, and I don't want to fight. A time suck I can't afford.



When my editor at Noble asked if I'd like a re-edit on my work, I jumped at the chance. For me, re-edit means rewrite. So, I am applying everything I've learned over the last three years to my Sapphire Club series and A Minute After Midnight, which is in dire need of work. I'll look into the other titles at another time, but I think they are okay.



I have a sequel to Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess partially written, did that before the rewrites. Now, Duchess has been expanded, with a significant change to the story. Serenity's Dream and Lord Decadent's Obsession have both been expanded, with 13 and 12k additional words respectively.



There is another book I want to write in the series, one about Haynes, who appears throughout the series. In the rewrite of Serenity, he got a significant backstory, and I'll tell his tale in an upcoming book. He speaks to me with every word I write in this series, and he won't stand for the background anymore.



All of the above, I hope, will be accomplished by mid-2013. About then, I get the rights back the Free Me and In His Arms, and I plan to combine them into one volume, give them the title, Freedom in His Arms, and submit them elsewhere. Very unhappy with that publisher. I've already finished expanding Free Me, which was originally written as as short piece for a submissions call, and doubled the number of words in that one piece. Much, much more story there. when I have time, I will work on In His Arms.



Instead of sugar plums, I have characters and titles floating around in my head. I laugh when someone talks about writer's block. The only writer's block I have involves lack of time.



Everyone is well and happy, and waiting for Mama to get over the bah-humbugs. Maybe around January 2 I might have time to fit that in.



Hugs,

Brita

Creating an interesting world

Some time ago, I started a story based on a story I’d been told when I was full force into my genealogy. An interesting tale about a powerful man who impregnated a maid in his household. He made a request of the son of his housekeeper, asking that the man marry the young maid and raise the child as his own.

The man of whom the request was made was my 5th great-grandfather. That child, supposedly, was my 4th great-grandfather. Of course, I have no idea if the story is true or not, but it does beg a story. However, in writing the first 20k of that book, brought to mind a series of stories, using the grains of tales as the catalyst for each of them.

And so the seeds of a new series were planted. I put the Revolutionary War-era story aside, and started researching the French and Indian War.

I’m one writer who absolutely loves the research I do for my novels. Some of my favorite stories are those which weave historical events and figures into the stories, using their characters as members of, say, Rogers’s Rangers or the British elite.

I research endlessly as I prepare to start writing. I knew I where I wanted to start, but I had to get my facts in place. Since I don’t create alternative universes, I have to play on a well established playground. At the moment, my living room is littered with books on Robert Rogers and Rogers’s Rangers, on Stockbridge Mohicans, and several books on Abenaki Indians. I have read the history of the French and Indian War, British military as well. From these, I have woven together the story of the French and Indian War, as it affected my characters.

The intention for this story and the others in the series is that there will be four or five novels, with the time spanning from 1764 to 1865. Each story will be about the descendants of the characters in this first book. Yes, they will be romances. I’ve had a good chuckle this week with my husband, thinking about all the romantics I grew up around (none.) I shall infuse the area of my birth with romance!

The stories will be set within a very small geographic area, that being the towns of Peterburgh and Stephentown, New York. The latter is where my mother grew up. I hold a special affinity, still, for the town where so many of my ancestors lived, worked, and died. My mother’s generation was the first to leave the area, en masse, spreading far and wide, from California to Boston. Now, out of my mother’s five siblings, no one lives in the old area. Two live elsewhere in New York, one in Vermont, one in the south, and two, including my mother, have passed away.

I’ve gained a great deal of respect for my ancestors, through knowledge I uncovered while studying my genealogy. The hardships they endured will form the basis of many stories. I do hope my readers will enjoy reading them, because I will certainly enjoy writing them.

In other news, I’ve received my first pre-release review for For Men Like Us. It will appear on Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews. The reviewer says it’s “A Great Read!!!” I couldn’t be more pleased.

 

New Cover

I opened my email, I had the finished cover for my next release, For Men Like Us, out on September 12th at Dreamspinner. Here is the cover, which so beautifully depicts the story.

Here’s the blurb:

After his lover dies trying to lend him aid at Salamanca, hopelessness becomes Preston Meacham’s only way of life. Despite his best efforts and with no pride left, he sells himself for a pittance at a molly house, the mindless sex giving him his only respite from the horrors he witnessed.

The Napoleonic War left Benedict Wilmot haunted by the horrific acts he’s forced to commit, as well as torture at the hands of a homophobic superior. As the battle rages around him, a weak and beaten Ben is ordered to kill a fellow redcoat, else face a ghastly death himself. Even in his dreams, he can’t escape the memory of the man he killed.

When their paths cross, Ben feels an overwhelming need to protect Preston from his dangerous profession, because, as he explains, “The streets are dangerous for men like us.”

 

Release date for For Men Like Us

First round of edits done on For Men Like Us. Went very well. Release date is September 12. Now I’m waiting for a draft of the cover by Ann Cain.

That’s the new!

You too shall live!

My muse has woken me with plot bunnies before, but never with an idea for a blog post. Funny how things happen.

Recently, a friend wrote that characters were basically paper and when I read it, I bristled a bit, because, to me, they aren’t just creations of my imagination. Okay, before you call the funny farm, hear me out. I do think of my characters as entities and have never examined closely whether that means I think of them as flesh and bone or simply reflections of those I know in the real world.

I am a very visual person, so for me to think of the people I write about as nothing more than products of my efforts, really wouldn’t fly. I can actually see them as I conduct their lives, hear their voices, smell the sandalwood and lavender. I hear the accents and their laughter. For me, that’s essential, if I’m to create a story that readers will love and invest themselves in.

It’s no secret to anyone that words are powerful. Our mother’s teach us that with the defiant little ditty, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” She told us that words are powerful and to stand up against them. Writing gives authors a power that shouldn’t be squandered, because we have the power to move someone to tears, to anger them, to call them to arms, so to speak. We can make them laugh or cry, we can even change their lives.

It is my love of the written word that made me a reader when I was but a little girl. My mother used to buy me one of those little Golden Books every week when she went grocery shopping (substituted later on for a 45 record.) I couldn’t wait to read it. I passed those same books on to my children, as well as my love of reading. No cereal box was safe in my house!

About seventh grade was when I started writing. My English teacher, Mr. Green, assigned short stories at the drop of a hat and I loved him for it. I remember writing a story about a jungle boy named Gunga. Lost in personal history, I have no idea where the inspiration for it came from, but I was into Tarzan at the time, and his son, Boy.

These days, I create Lords and Ladies, gentlemen and curs. Their sexuality matters not, as love is love in my world. It is the story I’m telling and the characters will be who they are in their hearts. Right now, I’m researching the French and Indian War for a series I want to write about generations of men who fought in this country’s earliest wars. The first book will be about the above mentioned war, the second the Revolutionary War, the third, the War of 1812 and finally, the Civil War. I had ancestors who fought in all of the above wars.

As the family historian, I’ve gathered personal stories of the men who fought, some very interesting, so rather bizarre. Take the one about a wealthy landowner who asked my 5th great-grandfather to marry the guy’s maid, because, oopsie, he happened to get her pregnant and his very influential wife wouldn’t think too kindly of that little slip in decorum. Now who could pass up telling a story like that?

In telling the stories that live in my heart, I bring the characters to life, in my view and I fervently hope, in the view of the reader. I always find a stock photo that best represents the characters as I see them, so I actually have a physical representation of them, rather than simply imagining them. They live in my mind and in my heart, and are very difficult to let go of once I’ve told their story.

At the moment, there are many, warring for attention. Seems they all want their moment and I’m here to give it to them. Never fear, dear ones, you too shall live! Take your place in the queue and simmer down. Much like in real life, I can only write one life at a time.

Till next time, I send you hugs! Stay cool.

Brita