Sharla Lovelace's Blog, page 23

The Vampire's Intergalactic Fae-Child--or Can Paranormal Elements Go Too Far?

Introducing Leslie Witwer!  

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Leslie is an award winning writer living in the Pacific Northwest with her real life romantic lead, children who teach her daily that love has no limits . . . and thousands of characters clamoring for attention in her imagination.

Leslie and I share the same fabulous rockstar agent, Jessica Faust of BookEnds, and I've asked her to come play at my house today.  :)

I'm delighted to be asked to guest on Sharla's blog and talk about a topic dear to both of us: the romance genre.   I write paranormal romance with a hint of mystery, but it wasn't my original intention.

[image error] My first attempt at storytelling came in the form of an urban fantasy about a hardened heroine with a wicked set of stiletto heels.

I knew everything about this character except why she kept trying to pursue the hunky guy—the supernatural, hunky guy—instead of focusing on saving the world. It took me six months and four painful chapters to realize the error in forcing myself to conform to the wrong genre. What I feel in my gut, in that hidden place that forms men and women and launches them on adventures, is of the paranormal persuasion. But what rules do I follow?

The Romance Writers of America gives broad guidelines for judging the paranormal category with the statement: "a futuristic, fantasy, or paranormal element is blended with the love story, which is the main focus of the novel, and the end of the book is emotionally satisfying and optimistic."

Fantastical elements. Love story. Emotionally satisfying. Not very limiting, is it? And yet, I've discovered that while unconventional, the paranormal romance genre is curtailed by certain conventions.

The incomparable Catherine Asaro, in my opinion the mother of the paranormal romance, penned one of my first memorable reads with her Ruby Dynasty. With dashing empaths, physics based world-building, and a clash of futuristic cultures centered around an engaging family, Ms. Asaro's writing defined my expectations for a story with paranormal elements.

Compare that with another favorite, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books. An impoverished yet noble Scotsman and a time-traveling Englishwoman are caught between upheavals during the Jacobite rebellion. Ms. Gabaldon missed few elements. I've heard her work described as a "historical sci-fi adventure-romance." I simply call her bloody brilliant.

Does throwing archetypes in the stewpot assure success?

Certainly not.

Like the title example, an intergalactic vampire holds little interest by himself, but ahhhhh, what is he after? Why would a vampire leave the security of his own turf for the outer reaches and what or who would compel him? Now we are telling a paranormal tale acting on the principles of good storytelling: motivating a character towards a goal in spite of overwhelming odds to reach a satisfying, emotional conclusion.

Our limits.

Paranormal romance may be the most creative, seemingly boundless genre . . . but don't go too far and ignore standards. As Catherine Asaro and Diana Gabaldon will tell you, if you tell it correctly even the most outlandish combinations will inspire.

Woot!!  Thank you, Leslie, for the awesome drop-by!!  Readers can find her at www.lesliewitwer.com, on Twitter as @lesliewitwer, and on Facebook as Leslie Witwer.

Saturday Southern Comfort...share your guilty pleasure!

Got a great idea for a Saturday over at Roni Loren's blog today.  Saturdays are frequently about slowing down from the chaos of the week.  Catching up on things not done around the house.  And sometimes allowing a little guilty pleasure. 

So that's what Saturdays will be about in here.  Since I'm in the South, it's all about southern comfort.  What brings us to our happy place.  Comfort food, that favorite quilt, a pair of sweats you just can't live without.  Our indulgences, our shameless weaknesses, our guilty pleasures, what fun or lazy or crazy lame comforts rock our worlds!

Since Roni started hers out with TV shows, I'll go there as well.  We are a maniacal TV family.  DVR was invented for people like us.  And on my Monday night "must-see-TV" is...

The Bachelorette / Bachelor


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Yeah...I know.  It's about as lame as it gets.  And sometimes cringe worthy.  And seriously, right now you could make a drinking game out of how many times Ashley says "Bentley" in one episode.  Although I'm thinking of eating brownies instead.  I could really get my chocolate fix that way...but that's a guilty pleasure for another Saturday!  LOL.  I love curling up on Tuesday (because we DVR it) and watching Monday night TV romance play out with multiple men acting like fools to win the heart of one woman while cameras are rolling.  It's a sickness... :)

And by the way, if anyone is interested in guest blogging a Saturday Southern Comfort post, let me know!  The more the merrier.

So what is your reality TV indulgence?? 

Where I'm From...

This has been going around, and I had a go at it.  I think it is the most fantastic exercise for a writer to try, because it pulls your voice and digs memories and emotions from places you've forgotten about.  For me, it was very emotional once I got started, and now it's something I want to keep and share with my brothers. 

The original template is at the bottom....  You just fill in the blanks and tweak it as needed.

Here's mine!

WHERE I'M FROM

I am from Coca-Cola and orange soda straight from the bottle, and drinking from the garden hose on a hot day. I'm from leaving the house in the morning and staying gone till dusk, till Daddy's voice called me home. From handlebar pumping, treehouses, double-daring, and carving my own rubberband gun from a stick. I'm from no cell phones, computers, vcr's, or cable TV. From black rotary phones wired to the wall, Hee Haw and Disney on Sunday evenings, and three-cent green apple bubble gum.


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I am from the only 2-story house on the block, that was really just a converted attic. I'm from duct work made from a Dentler's Chip can and wires held together with duct tape. From the upstairs room with the shower that never was. From a carpenter's house, where the smell of sawdust and grease will always make me close my eyes and see my father's hands, and the sound of an arm saw makes me long for hot summers in a dusty garage.

I am from the magnolia and dogwood trees that flower the sky of Southeast Texas, and the pinks, purples and whites of azaleas. From deep green St Augustine grass and verbenia bushes with millions of red berries that will kill you if you eat them…or so we were told.

I am from homemade ice cream cranked in a bucket while someone sat on the lid, watermelon seed wars, camping on the Neches River bank in East Texas where the stars were many, waterskiing, and playing Chinese Checkers and Yahtzee in a homemade wooden and felt box made by my dad. I'm from Duchess, Prince, Duke, Honey, and Brandi, all beloved dogs buried in the backyard at a house I can only see from across the street now. I'm from unlocked doors and just walking in, and sitting on the front porch drinking coffee.

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I'm from Lovelace eyebrows and Milburn smiles, Nanny's drama and Maw Maw's sweet silliness. From craziness everyone talks about, and skeletons no one talks about. From blue eyes and curly hair and two big brothers. From chain smokers and staying in a log cabin on vacation for me when Mom really wanted a hotel.

From y'all, fixin to, ice box, and because I said so. From pulling weeds at the roots and dusting every single nack nack on weekends.

I am from Lutherans and Baptists, and sitting on the right side because no one had ever sat on the left.

I'm from Port Neches and Copperas Cove and Indian arrow heads on a hill. From lemon meringue pie and sand tarts at Christmas, homemade soup and shrimp gumbo, Steen's Cane Syrup and Daddy's special milk hash on toast to give Mom a break. I'm from ritz crackers with peanut butter, frozen bananas, and midnight snacks of sugar bread with hot milk.

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I am from a homemade treasure trunk full of black and white pictures, a closet full of cards and letters and macaroni projects from children now grown, and the box of handmade Christmas ribbons used every year because giving them back was the rule. From overcoming economic hardship, union strikes, divorce, illness, and any adversity. I'm from June and Buddy, who I miss so much it aches.

****

Here's the template:  Also the original link telling about it.

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A Cover and a Catalog!!

I've been holding out on revealing my cover because I wasn't given the green light, but now the Berkley Winter Catalog has come out so I guess it's all good!!  LOL

So....drum roll....

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Might be a little blurry because I copied it from the catalog page.  My clean file copy has only the artwork and not the quote, so I went with this.  
So what do you think?   
I absolutely love the fact that in one perspective she's coming out of a sideways wall of swirling water, and if you turn it sideways, she's falling backwards into it.  It's such an abstract idea of the whole story. 
And in case you'd like to go view the catalog showing all the Berkley new releases from January thru April of next year, here's the link.
http://booksellers.penguin.com/static/pdf/berkley-winter12.pdf 
I'm on page 60!   And fellow Berkley sister and friend Roni Loren is in there too on page 77, with her debut, Crash Into You.  (Very hot cover, you need to go see!  :))

So the squee-ing begins!

Butt In Chair -- Hands On Keyboard

Talking today about showing up for work.   Punching that time clock!



By that, I mean, treating your writing career like the job that it is...or the job that you want it to be.  This is crucial if you ever want it to be. 

Johanna Harness blogged about this today over at Gem State Writers, so go see that, too.  But I wanted to expand upon it a little bit.

Some of us are the very fortunate blessed ones that are able to stay home and write full time.  To those, I bow and scrape and genuflect!  That is awesome and I can only pray to be there one day.  While I know that brings its own brand of distraction and scheduling issues...especially with small children or outside obligations, I can see where setting a writing schedule and sticking to it might be a little easier.  Maybe...

Others, like me, still have to count on the day job.  I, for one, try to hit all my errands on the way home, then churn out a load of laundry, see what vitally needs doing (and by vital I mean people will trip and fall to their deaths if I don't clean/pick it up), and throw something together for supper on days I can no longer get away with leftovers.  (Ramen noodles and frozen chicken fingers only play out as filler for so long).

Then around 6:30pm, I try to sit down and write.  Sometimes this is productive.  Sometimes, Twitter is too shiny.  Sometimes, my husband gets needy and cannot seem to watch TV without me.  Or he'll come in 50 times to ask me how productive I'm being.  *patient grin*   But most nights I only get an hour or so, and I have to hope that it is quality time.

The point is, I do show up.  BIC-HOK.

Butt In Chair - Hands On Keyboard.

I thought that once I was under contract, I'd somehow magically find more hours in the day to be all over it.  But....same old hours.  I do show up, but it's not always what I wish it would be.   I have to make up for it by putting my head in my story at all other times--kind of like working overtime at work--while at my desk, I'm playing out scenes.  Over and over.  Sometimes even out loud, and then I get the funny looks, but my BFF is across the hall and she knows me so she just ignores it.  I keep my notebook in my purse for times I might get a chance to scribble some things down.  (I do my blogging from work so I don't have to use that time at night...O_o )

But I learned this year, the importance of treating writing as a job....no matter how scattered that job may be.  Once I did that, I got an agent, an editor, a book deal.   What my family and friends once viewed as a hobby because that's how I treated it--they now see as something serious.   My time has not increased, my schedule has not improved, my screen still sometimes stares back at me with disdain....but I'm there.  It might only be for an hour that night...but I'm there.  Punching in.  Making the best of it.

Tell me about your writing schedule!  How do you make the best of it!

Guest Blogging Today!

I'm over at Gem State Writers today, guest blogging about Paranormal "Light" and my take on that genre.

Come see me!

All About the Red Today...Again

Those of you that know me well...know I have a certain fondness for RED.

I posted this last year sometime, but today I felt that RED needed to be celebrated.  Again.  Because now I have more.

It's yummy...plain and simple. So today I thought I'd devote my post to all things RED in my life. There are many. Just ask my husband. I buy him red shirts but he won't wear them. He hates red. Can you just imagine?

my camera/camcorder



(isn't it cute?)






My coffee cup I bought on our honeymoon in 2006 in Vegas at Treasure Island where we stayed.













Bull and bullfighter my mother bought in San Antonio on their honeymoon...in 1950 .



It's now on top of my hutch.







My writing notebook ...or all of them actually...I have 6 of them all the same all red, and I have them numbered.













My coffeemaker ...I love my coffeemaker.  It was the first thing I bought when we got our new granite countertops.












My phone....cover . Took the pics with my phone so I was kinda using it. So I took the cover off for proof...












My planner ...it's the third red one I've had.













My tea pot ...use it every day...Paula Deen pot and of course...RED. Don't look too closely at my stove...eek.









Little red bowls ...they really serve no purpose other than to make me happy!









If my iPod would have come in red, I would have bought it. It didn't, so I got green. Never had a red purse...I'm not a change-with-the-outfit kind of girl, so it would not have been practical.

OOOH my bedspread!!



Now I have a red washer and dryer ....yay!!!!!  And they sing....which is just icing on the cake.




So...what is YOUR fetish? Share!

First Sentence...first impression

Short and sweet today... because life is crazy and I'm in need of five more hands and at least one more brain.  In lieu of anatomical miracles, here we go.

How's your first sentence? 

It's the first thing anyone will read of your work, so look at whatever you're working on, and if you feel so driven, share your first sentence in the comments.  I'd love to see it!

Here's mine.

I've always loved the dark.

Okay...now you!!

Oops! There it is...

One of the things we wait for as newly published or almost-published authors is the acclaimed Publishers Marketplace listing.  I know I've combed it for the past two years, in awe of those lucky enough to be in there.

Well, today was my day!  *dancing!*

lol...sorta....

There it was...a friend saw it before I did and sent me a Facebook message (thanks Colby!!) so I went looking and my breath caught in my throat as I saw my name and...wait...What? 

My title was wrong.






RETURN TO ME?  What on earth is that?  I emailed my agent to ask if something had changed that I didn't know about, but no.  PM evidently made an error and now this is forever the first listing my book will ever have in the publishing world.  Kinda bummed about that.  But hopefully it's no big deal in the grand scheme of all things.

So yay for the listing!  And ignore the title.   It's really THE REASON IS YOU .  Really.  I promise.

And I've seen the cover but can't post yet.  (It's awesome!)  I'll post it as soon as I can.

Oh What A Tangled Web

Over at my fabulous fantastic agent's blog today, there is a post from Janet Bolin whose novel Dire Threads released TODAY!   *copious clapping*

What also tickled me today was Janet's trip down memory lane about storytelling.  How she made up stories as a kid.  I'll let you go over there to BookEnds to read it.

Done?

K.

It really brought back some crazy memories of some the lies stories I concocted as a child.  Wayyyyy out there at times.  I commented over there, but I'll repeat it all here.

I convinced a boy in the 2nd grade that I had a twin, and then I'd act out that "twin's" personality the next day. Frighteningly enough, someone else commented that they did the same thing.  Can't believe someone else did that too! That same year, we had to draw a pic of our family. Mine was boring, so I added all kinds of people, not realizing it would go on the wall for family night Open House to view.

But it didn't start there. In first grade, we got two Hispanic girls in our class who barely knew English and since I was top reader in my class, I was put with them to help them. I was so in awe (never met or seen Hispanics before at that time) that I started telling them and everyone else that my parents were Hispanic and that I was an adopted white girl.

Oh...and that just reminded me of an old lady that would walk her dog down our street every day and I'd regale her with stories of how I was really a Cherokee Indian and a rare one with blue eyes and white-blond hair.

Hmmm, seems I had identity issues.

I'd also make up things to shock my best friend. When she'd complain if I had to go to church, I'd tell her that it was cool because we dressed up in blue spangles and dance around a room. (oh my gosh).

No wonder we writers are just a little off. LOL!

So when did you start telling stories?   Share some of yours!