Lorenda Christensen's Blog, page 4

Welcome 2014 Golden Heart Inspirational Finalist–Carrie Padgett

Carrie Padgett
2014 Golden Heart Inspirational Finalist

Hello all our wonderful Firebirds blog readers,

Today, I have the privilege of introducing you to Carrie Padgett, a 2014 Golden Heart finalist in the Inspirational category. There was no inspirational category last year. So, I’m thrilled that the category is back this year with Carrie and 3 other finalists. Which, interestingly enough, is how many finalists they had in 2012 for us Firebirds.

Carrie’s writing comes across as energetic and vivacious, so this has been so much fun. Here’s a little insider info on our Inspy Dreamweaver.

Carrie lives in the center of California, no where near the beach or the Golden Gate Bridge or Hollywood. However, she is just an hour from Yosemite National Park, possibly the most beautiful spot on earth. There’s a wee chance she’s biased about that, though.

She has 1 husband, 2 daughters, 2 granddaughters, and a dog who all love her. And a cat who tolerates her. She writes contemporary stories.

 

First off, super, super congrats on your Golden Heart final. What was it like getting that much-anticipated phone call, letting you know you’d finaled?

It was surreal. About 9 AM Pacific time I told Stud Muffin I must not have finaled or I’d have heard by then. He left for a meeting and not ten minutes later the phone rang. As soon as Pam said she was with RWA, I started screaming. Then I hung up and called hubby but he didn’t pick up. I was ready to pinch off his head by the time he answered ten minutes later. I had other calls to make, but I wanted him to be the first to hear.

Somehow, I’m sure Stud Muffin  has been doing his best to make it up to you and that he is so thrilled for you.  Now, is this the first time you’ve finaled? Entered?

Yes, this is my first time entering and my first time finaling. Talk about a dream come true! I’m a finalist in the Inspirational category so we’re kind of a small cross-section of genres in that one category: 2 historicals, 1 contemporary, and mine is a romantic suspense.  

Have you ever been to RWA Nationals?

No, this is my first time to nationals. I’m so excited! I found a gorgeous dress for the awards but it needs a wee bit of alterations. Which reminds me, I’ve gotta get it to the tailor, ASAP.

I love your energy. I can feel it zipping through the internet and channeling into this post. It really is surreal from the moment you realize why your phone is ringing on that morning, all the way to forever. And when you get to Nationals, it gets bigger and bigger. You’ll have that pretty pink ribbon on your badge along with the “First-Timer” one. Savor each moment, but don’t worry, they will last and last.

    Since you said your story is a contemporary suspense, do you have a hook or a blurb you can share with us?

Sparks between a headstrong murder witness and the U. S. Marshal assigned to protect her threaten to combust their mountain refuge.

Now that we’ve established that this is your first final and your first conference (you will just be in total awe the whole time–I was.), can you tell me how long you’ve been writing and what got you started on your quest to be published? 

I’ve been seriously writing for about a decade now. I grew up reading voraciously and wanted to be a writer but when I tried some fiction after high school and it was dreadful, I decided I should keep to reading and leave the writing to the truly gifted. Until a friend looked at notes I’d made for a talk I was giving and suggested I turn the talk into an article and submit it to some magazines.

I can’t draw a banana that looks like a banana, even after multiple art classes. But writing … once I learned about POV and passive writing, I had the tools to make my stories come to life.

What’s your biggest source of inspiration for your stories?

I’m intrigued by the unexpected. The relationship expert whose personal life is in disarray. The mother with a Down’s Syndrome baby and a genius child. A woman with a childhood gun phobia who has to use a revolver to save her father. I’ve written all those scenarios.

That is so neat. One thing all the publishers say they’re on the lookout for is a fresh spin on the ordinary. It sounds like you’ve found it in the irony of your characters. That is great. You’re giving them depth and history before they even make it on the page. 

Can you share a little about your whole writing process–plotter or pantster. Do you have a dedicated writing schedule?

Is there such a thing as a “plontser”? Once I have the basic story setup, the ‘what if?’ I rough out an outline, just the high points. Then I write. When I’m first drafting, I try to get in 3000 words a day. I’m open to new characters walking in and new ideas. Then I take my time with the rewrite.

I try to write first thing in the morning, pretty much as soon as my feet hit the floor. If I do anything else first, my writing gets pushed lower on the priority list until the next thing I know it’s dinner time and I haven’t even opened my document. On days I write first, I get the most important thing done and the other stuff falls into place around it.

What are you working on now and will you share what it’s about?

My WIP is the one I mentioned above about the relationship expert. The blurb: A successful radio psychologist discovers she sacrificed her family for her career on the same day she gets fired.

How do you get feedback on your work, or do you even use a critique group or service?

I have a local critique group that I meet with weekly. They are awesome about finding the holes in my story that I thought I had patched up. And I have a couple of online partners I swap chapters with every few days.

Since you’ve been writing for several years and now you have this awesome GH final under your belt, what do you think the most important thing a new writer needs to know or understand in today’s publishing world?

Writing is not a sprint. If you can do anything else, DO IT. If you can’t get rid of the stories in your head, if you can’t not write, then you’re a writer.

That is great advice, because the writer’s journey is long and hard. I have a friend who once told me, “If she couldn’t write, she couldn’t breathe.”

Where do you see your writing taking you in five years?

I intend to publish one to two books a year in a series set in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I know the area like it’s my backyard. Maybe because it is my backyard.

Is writing the only creative outlet you have?  If not, what else do you like to do?

I knit in the winter. In Central California it’s just too warm to have all that yarn in your lap while the temps are in the 90s and 100s. I’m also a new quilter. I love taking different patterns and colors and bringing them into order and creating something lovely.

I have one of my husband’s grandmother’s patchwork quilts. I think it is so beautiful and represents the history of the person who made it.

 

Carrie, it has been an absolute pleasure hosting you today. I hope to run into you at Nationals and spend some time chatting, but you are going to be floating so high off the floor, you won’t see the rest of us down below.  I wish you all the best and I will be cheering you on at the awards ceremony.

 

Now, Carrie has a question for you guys about creative outlets. So, stop by and say high.

Carrie said:  I’d love to know what other people do as their creative outlet. Any other quilters out there?

LETTING GO with GH YA Finalist Jessica Ruddick

Welcome 2014 Golden Heart YA finalist Jessica Ruddick to the Firebirds blog. Jessica is a 2014 Golden Heart finalist for her new adult novel, Letting Go, which was inspired by her own college experiences. She is married to her college sweetheart—their first date was a fraternity toga party (nothing inspires love like a toga, right?). These days she is a high school English teacher by day and young adult and new adult writer by night, lunch break, soccer practice, basically whenever she can squeeze in a minute to write. She is currently spending her summer wrangling her two rambunctious sons and trying to squeeze in a few minutes at the pool, book in hand. Her Golden Heart finaling manuscript is titled LETTING GO. Here’s a blurb for the story:

After learning her high school sweetheart’s death was suicide instead of an accident, college sophomore and type-A control freak Cori Elliott attends a fraternity party to distract herself. The last thing on her “to do” list is meeting smart, sexy Luke Evans. Drinks flow, sparks fly, and she finds herself attached to Luke at the lips. The next morning, she vows to put her newfound wild side on lockdown, but as luck would have it—in this case, bad luck—Cori can’t seem to get away from Luke, and her self-enforced lockdown is no match for his ice blue eyes and subtle charm. As her reservations fade away, their flirty friendship morphs into a relationship.

If only “happily ever after” could be that easy.

Luke becomes the one bright spot in Cori’s life as everything else falls apart. Afraid her past will contaminate her relationship with Luke, she keeps it a secret until he finds out in the worst way possible. When her past collides with her present, Cori discovers that sometimes letting go is the only way to hold on to what matters most.

Awesome, right? And now we begin the inquisition…err…interview.

Q: I’m sure you’ve told this story a ton of times, but let’s start off with your Golden Heart call. Where were you when the phone rang, and how did you react?

A: I was at work, getting ready to teach a grammar review lesson to high school seniors. For some reason, I thought the “calls” were going out via email, so I kept checking my personal email. Then I heard my cell phone chime from deep within my wardrobe at school. It was a text from Marnee Bailey, a good friend, telling me she’d finaled. Yay! I was thrilled for her. I’d already witnessed the Golden Heart ride for another friend (ahem…Terri), so I was looking forward to living vicariously yet again. While I had my phone out, I noticed that I had an email in my gmail account, which was a relatively new account that I only used for writing related things and not the one I had on file with RWA. Well, it turns out I was wrong because I had an email from Shirley, an RWA board member. I knew right away what it must be, so I stepped out into the hall to call her back. All I could say was “oh my God, oh my God,” and my hands were shaking like crazy. I jumped up and down and screamed a few times, then ran down to the hallway to find my teacher friends to jump up and down and scream with me. Once I returned to my class, I assured my students that I was not off my rocker and told them what had happened. They clapped for me. It was beyond cool.

Q: I love that you had a class of teens to celebrate finagling with a book you wrote for teens. When did you first decide you wanted to be a writer? Was there a watershed moment when you said, “I think I can do this”?

A: I think I always wanted to write. When I was a child, I wrote short stories. I had a special three pen set that I used—blue for the rough draft, red for editing, and then black for the final draft. I also started writing a knock-off Nancy Drew mystery type story that I still have buried in the closet. I’d always dreamed of being a writer, but I didn’t start taking it seriously until after I’d had children. There’s something about becoming a mother that makes you realize you won’t have infinite time to chase your dreams. I went to my first RWA conference in 2009 because it was only a few hours from me, but I’d yet to finish a book at that point, and then the birth of my second son forced me to put writing on the back burner for a while. In 2012 I hopped on a plane to Anaheim—clear across the country—by myself. When I arrive at that conference, I knew no one. It was a huge step for me, an extreme introvert. That conference changed my life; my writing fire was relit and brighter than ever. I felt so empowered after that conference, and I vowed that I would succeed in this business. I finished my first MS that year, which finaled in a few contests. My next manuscript netted me the final in the Golden Heart. It was all the positive feedback for my GH MS, Letting Go, that made me feel like I really could do this. It wasn’t so much a watershed moment though, as a shake my fist in the air type of moment, an empowering moment.

Q: Love the fist-shaking. And positive feedback is such a boost, especially from a contest. I happen to know that you’re a high school teacher, which means you spend a lot of time with young adults. Do you think you would write in this genre if that wasn’t the case? Do you ever dabble in other genres?

A: I write in this genre because I like to read in this genre. I wonder if I like to read in this genre because I interact with young people so much? I don’t really know the answer to that question. I’ve always read widely, so I have to imagine I would still probably read and write YA even if I didn’t teach high school. YA is exciting to me because the characters have not yet been jaded by the adult daily grind. I first started writing contemporary and a little bit of urban fantasy, and I’d like to revisit those genres when I have the time.

Q: And that leads me into what are you working on now?

A: I’m closing in on the end of the first book in a new YA series. I love, love, love this story and these characters. It’s all based on the saying that is commonly mentioned when a good person dies: God must have needed another angel. Well, what if a teenager were responsible for finding those people who were angel worthy and ultimately had to sentence them to death? It’s an intriguing concept and comes with a lot of moral issues. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it! I hope to have it finished and sent out into the world very soon.

Q: (Side note: I have read the opening and am also very excited about this story! Love the concept.) When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

A: Um….what time? LOL! Writing takes up all of my free time right now. I have no knowledge of current TV shows, and in fact, still have Thanksgiving episodes on my DVR that I haven’t found the time to watch. I spend a lot of time with my two boys, shuttling them to their various activities. (I bring my laptop with me to tae kwon do, Little Gym, you name it. Gotta make those minutes count.) I do try to find the time to read though. I think all writers are readers first, and I’m no exception to that. Reading a good book inspires me in my own writing. I hope to be able to write full time eventually, so check back with me in a few years with the free time question.

Q: Now for the lightning round. Coffee or tea?

A: Tea.

Q: Coke or Pepsi?

A: Pepsi.

Q: Plotter or Pantser?

A: Plantser

Q: Paper or e-Reader?

A: Ooh…There’s nothing like holding a paper book in my hands, but e-books are so much more convenient and take up less room. Tie!

Q: Boxers or briefs (for your hero, of course)?

A: Boxers.

Q: White or wheat?

A: Wheat.

Q: Word or Scrivener?

A: Scrivener.

Whew! Way to hang in there. Now let’s get everyone else involved. Is there something you want to ask our esteemed blog readers? Something you’re dying to get input on?

A: (which is really a Q): What was the last book that gave you a reading hangover? (By this I mean the last book that hooked you so much it turned you into a don’t you dare talk to me, I haven’t even showered today, and right now life does not exist for me outside of this book zombie?) 

Excellent question! I can’t wait to read these answers. Thank you, Jessica, for joining us today and answering my (partially silly) questions. One lucky commenter today will win a $5 Starbucks gift card, so good luck.

 

Welcome Jillian Lark–A 2014 Golden Heart® Finalist in Historical Romance

Jillian Lark 2014 Golden Heart Finalist

Hi all our Firebird Blog readers. Lets give a great big welcome to another Dreamweaver–the chosen name of the 2014 Golden Heart Finalists. Jillian Lark’s category is Historical Romance and with a bio like hers, she was destined for this category.

Jillian writes witty romantic romps set in 19th century England. Her passion for the past, England, and writing began when her family moved from the U.S. to a late Victorian era home near London.

She minored in English and studied British History. After living in England, Germany, and 11 U.S. states, Jillian now resides in Texas where she’s a PRO member of RWA®, Austin RWA, and the Golden Network.

When not writing Historical Romance and spending time with her family, she’s a fervent Anglophile, occasional traveler, and reluctant wrangler of dust bunnies. 

Welcome, Jillian. We are so glad you could stop by today. 

Hi, Karen and Firebirds! Thanks for inviting me! I’m excited to be here, because I enjoy reading your blog and know quite a few of you. (Waves to Tammy and my fellow 2014 GH/Dreamweaver sisters!)

Tell us about your manuscript which finaled in the Golden Heart.

MUCH ADO ABOUT SCANDAL is my first Golden Heart final and previously placed second in the 2013 Maggie Award for Excellence and Rebecca contests. It’s also the first book in the Mischief in Mayfair series about scandalous schemers who circumvent the laws and rules of Victorian Society. Here’s a short blurb.

Lady Selborne has found the man she wishes to marry. Unfortunately he’s not her husband. Lord Selborne has found the life he always wanted. Unfortunately he’s not free to live it.

The estranged couple decide to end their arranged marriage the only honorable way allowed by Victorian law. One of them has to die – a faux death.

To avoid suspicion they must convince Society they are a loving couple. That is, if they can agree who should be the “victim” and protect their hearts from a painful past and unexpected desire.

That is a great spin on how to avoid the unavoidable. I like it. But  tell me, when did you first know you wanted to be an author?

From the time I was eight years old and living in England, I wrote stories and plays for my friends to perform. I also completed my first novel and won my first writing award. OK, I realize some of you may doubt the validity of those statements. In truth, the novel was only four chapters long and the award was for a fire prevention slogan, but I still have the pen I won.  :-)  too funny

What inspires your stories?

The settings are usually places I’ve lived in or visited. The characters, plots, and details often come from researching or while taking a short reading, social media, film, or T.V. break from family responsibilities or writing. If it sparks “What-ifs?” and unique twists, I’m hooked on creating a story. Of course, any resemblance to real events and persons, living or dead, is purely a figment of my imagination.

What’s your writing process? Plotter or Pantster?

After thinking about a story for a while, I brainstorm the plot, scenes, and characters’ GMCs (Goals, Motivation, Conflict) with a few Austin RWA chapter mates and my online critique partners. I admire writers who are pantsters and plotters. Believe me I tried being a pantster. Not a good look on my manuscript or me. I’m not a detailed plotter either. Squishing color-coded scenes in a spreadsheet gave me a headache. Storyboards and charts terrified me. Where would my dust bunnies sleep? What if they got stuck to the Post-it notes?

Luckily I learned emotional structure and plotting via motivation in online writing classes. I’ve combined them into a method that works for me, so maybe I’m a “transplotter.” Once I begin the first draft, I write dialogue. Then I go back and layer in the description and details. It’s similar to creating a tiered wedding cake but without the calories.

What’s your perfect writing day?

This is a hypothetical question, right? At least in my world it is. If not, please ask me again when I can afford a cook, housekeeper, butler, chauffeur, gardener, virtual assistant, etc.

My best writing days are when I’m wearing my pajamas and the words stream non-stop onto the page. On second thought that’s mostly hypothetical, too, except for the pjs. My favorite writing day is when I type “The End.”

  What are you currently working on and what do you plan to write next?

I’m writing INVENTING LORD REMINGTON (Remington Steele for the Victorian age). It’s the second book in the Mischief in Mayfair series and is about a woman who creates an imaginary husband in order to save her late father’s company. When a con artist assumes her fake husband’s identity, she must risk her reputation, the family business, and her heart.

In addition I’ve plotted two other books in the series and a second historical romance series. Since my writing interests range from witty Victorian romps to more serious subject matter, I’ve also researched and planned a novel set in WWII and the present. Oh!

I could always finish that four-chapter novel I wrote when I was eight.

 

Wow, all of those sound like really great reads. You need to get them out there so we can all share in your love for the historical. We wish you much luck in San Antonio and for the rest of your writing career. Thanks for stopping by, Jillian.

Want to know more about our globe-trekking guest?   Jillian blogs at  http://jillianlark.com and you can follow her on Twitter @JillianLark

 

I’m fascinated by other writers’ writing methods. So, confession time.

Are you a plotter, a pantster, or do you lean toward Jillian’s merging of the two, as a transplotter? 

Jillian will be hanging out today, answering questions and comparing your writing methods to her hybrid-style. 

So, stop by and say hi and share your method of creation with us.

 

 

Blazing a New Trail on the Road to Publication

As few as six years ago, when I attended my first RWA National Conference in Washington, D.C., the road to publication was a narrow highway that followed a fairly predictable straight line.   Hone your craft, finish and polish your manuscript, attract some notice (contests, maybe?), get an agent, get a publisher, do what the agent and editor and the publisher’s PR people recommend to sell your book, stand back and let the money roll in. Oh, and write the next book.

Ah, you’re laughing now, right? None of that was easy, of course, but at least it was a map an aspiring author could read. It said, in big, red letters, “Sell your book—THIS WAY!” It was a system everyone understood.

The problem was, publishing as it existed a few years back was a system that didn’t work for everybody. It excluded lots of talented writers. It had no room for new kinds of stories—paranormal romance, for many years, or science fiction romance now. And, most importantly for what happened next, the old system moved too slowly in response to new technologies and market trends, like digital publication, e-readers and a readership eager for lots of cheap reads.

In just a few short years those changes in technology and marketing have led to an explosion in self-publishing and digital small and medium-size presses. Now the “road to publication” is an astonishing variety of paths, leading in all kinds of directions. As authors, we not only have to choose the path that is right for us, we have to navigate it, choose the companions we want to accompany us (agent or no agent? subcontractors in our self-pubbing launch or Big Five firm?), and take an active role in production and promotion. Oh, and write the next book.

When I became one of the Firebirds in 2012, I had my feet set on the original “straight and narrow” highway to New York publication. I knew it wouldn’t be easy—science fiction romance is nobody’s darling, either among the Big Five, or among smaller presses. Editors would prefer the story be one thing—romance—or another—science fiction. Just finding an agent was a challenge. But Michelle Johnson, founder of Inklings Literary Agency, believed in me and my book, Unchained Memory. She refused to accept there wouldn’t be a place for it out there.

But after more than a year of discouraging responses from traditional publishers, we knew we had to find another way to get my work out to the reading public. We struck out on a new path, one so unexplored only a few brave souls had been down it before. Inklings Literary created a new publishing division, Ink’d Press, and offered me a three-book deal for my two Golden Heart titles, Unchained Memory and Trouble in Mind, plus a third book in the series, Fools Rush In. In effect, my agent became my publisher.

The books will be distributed through Amazon in digital and print-on-demand format. I have the advantage of working closely with Michelle on important details like cover art, editing (through a great contractor, Deborah Kreiser) and promotion. I have more control than I would have had with a traditional publishing deal, with far fewer headaches than I would have had self-pubbing (a step I was very reluctant to take).

A few years ago, this kind of arrangement might have been seen as a conflict of interest for the agent and a risk for the author. But this is a new world, with the publishing establishment in upheaval. New challenges demand flexibility, not a rigid adherence to old rules. Should any such arrangement with your agent bear close scrutiny? Yes, absolutely. Just like any other contract. And a level of trust between the parties.

This “hybrid” publishing arrangement may not work for everyone, but it seems ideal for me and for my hard-to-place novel, a science fiction suspense romance set on Earth, with aliens as bad guys, and a definite J.J. Abrams vibe. There’s an audience for my book out there. And Ink’d Press is here now to help me find it.

 

Donna S. Frelick was a Golden Heart Double Finalist in 2012 for the first two of her Interstellar Rescue series novels, Unchained Memory and Trouble in Mind. She lives in Fredericksburg, VA, and teaches tai chi when she’s not finding ways to get her heroes and heroines out of the clutches of evil aliens. Unchained Memory will be released by Ink’d Press in February, 2015.

Celebrating THE SEDUCTION OF SARAH MARKS

This past Tuesday (June 10th) another Firebird took flight with her debut novel. Today, we celebrate that release with a special spotlight on THE SEDUCTION OF SARAH MARKS by the fabulously talented Kathleen Bittner Roth!

First up—the cover. Gorgeous, no?

And now the blurb:

He may be her savior…or what she fears most

England 1857

After a blow to her head, Sarah Marks awakens in a strange bed with a strange man and no memory of how she got there. Her handsome bedmate, Lord Eastleigh, tells her she’s suffering from amnesia and the best course of action is to travel home with him until she recovers her memory.

Lord Eastleigh has his own reasons for helping Sarah and keeping her close. Reasons he cannot tell her. As they struggle to restore her memory, their undeniable, inadvisable attraction grows – until Sarah finally remembers the one thing that could keep them apart forever.

Let’s pause here for just a moment. Amnesia? Waking up next to a strange hunky man? And he takes her home? Did someone just transport me back to the Golden Age of romance novels? Is this Kathleen Bittner Roth or Kathleen Woodiwiss?? I want to read this book!

So let’s do just that. Or at least part of it. Buckle up, book buddies, here comes the excerpt:

Seduction can take many forms when an undeniable chemistry exists between two people, even if it’s not done with any intention. Here’s a scene where Eastleigh rescues Sarah from a downpour shortly after their arrival at his estate:

The horse took a step forward. Sarah gripped the front of Eastleigh’s shirt and let out a pitiful squeak. No, she definitely did not ride by habit.

Eastleigh halted the beast and slid his gloved hand over hers. “Are you certain you’re all right?”

“The only thing I’m fair…fairly certain of, is that I must have led my father’s horses to the smithy and never rode a one. Furthermore, I feel as though I’m ten feet off the ground and about to tumble beneath this monster’s great hooves, where I shall surely meet my demise. I don’t care for this one bit, Eastleigh.”

“Then you need to ride in front. Sit tight.” Before she knew what he was about, he threw a leg over the neck of the horse and slid to the ground with graceful ease. She slipped a bit in the saddle, and terror washed through her anew.

“Easy, now.” He righted her. “Lean over and grip the pommel.” He stepped to the horse’s head, stroking and murmuring in soothing tones. “Ease yourself all the way forward, then adjust your skirts while I have my back to you.”

After she did as she was told, he mounted behind her in one smooth motion. This time it was he who set his body against hers. It was his thighs cradling her hips. Oh, my. His one hand slid around her waist, tucking her close to him. He took the reins with the other. She swallowed hard against the tide of emotion washing through her and searched for a decent breath.

“I’ve got hold of you,” he said. “But grab a handful of the horse’s mane. Doing so will help you maintain your balance. There’s a storm nearly upon us, so we’d best pick up speed. Ready?”

She grasped a hank of black mane with both hands and nodded. His words of encouragement were warm and husky in her ear, his hand splayed over her stomach comforting, yet sending shockwaves of…of pleasure through her. A squeeze of his legs against the horse, and the beast eased into a walk, then a trot, and soon, a canter. All the while, Sarah bumped about in the saddle.

“Let your hips relax, and you won’t bounce so.” He gripped the side of her waist, and with strong, supple fingers, urged her hips into a back and forth motion that matched the horse’s movements—along with Eastleigh’s. Not only was the difference in the ride immediate, but oh, dear, the graceful cadence of the horse set her and Eastleigh moving together in a manner that one could call provocative. Could he be aware of what she was thinking? Or feeling? Or was this movement so common she would be considered a prig to make note of it?

“That’s it,” he murmured, his words throaty in her ear. “You’ve got things right now. Feel how smooth and natural the three of us move together.” He slid his hand back to her belly. “Settle in and enjoy the ride, I’ve got you.”

But the intimacy of Eastleigh’s hips rolling in cadence with hers did more than allow her to enjoy the ride. Something began to tingle deep inside her. God help her, she wanted to ride forever in his arms, wanted to delve deep into the erotic feelings shooting through her. She leaned the back of her head against his chest and closed her eyes to everything that was not him.

*passes out delicate lace fans* Good thing I brought these with me today. Holy hot scene on a horse. Maybe I should have loaded up on ice packs.

Where can you learn more? Check out Kathleen’s virtual publicity tour, and a chance to win a $25 gift card here.

And you can find Kathleen on Facebook, Twitter, Entangled Publishing and on her website.

Kathleen Bittner Roth creates passionate stories featuring characters faced with difficult choices, and who are forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one boot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, she was a 2012 Golden Heart® finalist.

 

Performance Anxiety

In a past life, I spent eight years working in radio. I spent countless hours on air, conducted several live interviews, and even introduced some major acts on stage. But tomorrow night, for the first time ever, I’m reading my own work in front of a live audience at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia.

And I am scared doodoo-less.

I have never shied away from public speaking. Throughout my childhood, I took part in Christmas shows (often being a narrator for the whole show), competed in pageants (I was cute once – sigh), and participated in the school play.

So why does this new challenge have me on edge?

No really. I’m asking. WHY??

Okay, I know why. Because it’s my writing. And this isn’t an event at RT or something. This is not an audience of romance lovers. I take pride in what I write, and I know I’m a real writer no matter what the literary elite like to say. But still…

What if they don’t laugh in the right places? What if they all fall asleep? What if someone gets up and leaves in the middle of my reading?? See, this is why I loved radio. If someone changed the channel, I had no idea. I was buffered from rejection.

Tomorrow night, I am bufferless.

I’m half tempted to read from someone else’s book. I mean, the announcement only says we’re reading from our favorite beach reads. This would remove some of the pressure and maybe help win fans for another author. A win-win.

But that would also be the coward’s way out, I suppose. So I’ll stick with the plan to read the first chapter of MEANT TO BE. Yes, the whole chapter. Meaning I have a lot of time in which to crash and burn.

Other than picturing the audience in their underwear, which I have never wanted nor been able to do, what do you suggest? Where are my introverts who have developed tricks and tips to get through this sort of thing? A shot beforehand? A shot in the hand? I’ll take anything.

Terri Osburn is the best selling author of the Anchor Island Series. Her latest release is HOME TO STAY, the third installment in the series. Learn more about Terri and her work at her website.

sometimes it really is about the sex

About a year ago, I wrote in my journal: “This is probably a very bad idea, but what if I wrote about sex workers? I’d have to do it under a new pen name, of course, but what if?”

And then I sat there and looked at it and blushed.

And then I thought about it some more. I realized I couldn’t write about jaded professionals because, well, that’s not my milieu. But I could write about people dipping their toes in that stream and the complications that ensue. It’s a rich terrain to explore, I think. In part because it makes me a wee bit uncomfortable and therefore makes my characters uncomfortable too.

Romances run the gamut from near-chaste just-kisses to everything-but-the-sex to peeking-through-the-keyhole to, well, flinging that door wide open. But sex—or at least, that lovely physical awareness of each other—is always a factor. Sex can, and usually does, complicate relationships, and sex without love gradually transforms into sex with love. The two are entwined. And yet how often does a romance deal specifically with the sex/love dynamic? Some do, of course, but I think most don’t.

But there’s more to this for me.

Some years ago, I found an anonymous blog written by a graduate student moonlighting as a call girl to make money. She wrote a lot about her clients, mostly about her interactions with them and why they sought her out. It was clear that many of them saw her as a friend and confidante, filling an emotional need, not merely a sexual one.

Then last year, I read a piece in an online magazine by a woman who had been a sex worker (porn star, phone sex worker, and sex therapist, I think) and was now going to school to become a nurse. When she told her friends, they all nodded and said it made perfect sense. She’d always been drawn to the helping professions. Sex worker or nurse—in some unexpected ways, the two are not so far apart.

This is the heart of my new book, Call Me Saffron, and the heart of the series that stems from it. The idea of looking at sex from a different point of view, whether it be through the eyes of someone who pretends to be a call girl, or someone who tries to get a job as a phone sex worker (spoiler: she’s not very good at it), or possibly someone who starts dancing burlesque, with its fascinating blend of artistry and come-hither sexuality. It’s the idea that sex can be both problem and solution. That it can foster intimacy. That it can lead to healing the heart.

Midway through Call Me Saffron, Samantha, my heroine, says, “When I came to your apartment in May, you asked me about myself. You wanted to know who I was before I—before we—”

And Dylan responds, “I’d expected it to be a simple physical release. A way of exorcising the image of Persephone screwing my best friend from my head. But when you walked in, all bravado and vulnerability, I had to know who you were and why you were there. What it meant to you. It turns out that sex is personal.”

Obviously, I didn’t take on a new pen name. As I started writing the book, I realized that it’s still my voice and still very much about the characters’ emotional arcs and their journey toward each other, and that the blatantly sexual situation they’re in is just a jump-start mechanism for this particular story.

I’m exceedingly proud of this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect. And maybe that’s why it worked out.

Here’s the blurb:

Samantha Lilly is in a long-term relationship… with her vibrator. She can’t handle a serious commitment, but casual affairs don’t do it for her either. So she’s resigned herself to being alone.

Her high-priced call-girl roommate Jeanine has other ideas. She persuades Samantha to take her place for one night with Dylan Krause, an incredibly hot prospective client recovering from a messy divorce. She says it’ll be good for Samantha to be with someone without her usual expectations and complications.

It’s more than good. It’s intense, extraordinary, and emotionally devastating. During their long, intimate night together, they bare, not just their bodies, but their souls.

But after that one amazing night, Samantha flees. This feels too real for her. And yet she can’t forget Dylan, even though she tries.

Then one day, he walks into the architecture firm where she works. Seeing him threatens to destroy the careful walls she’s built around her heart—and this time she can’t run away.

Call Me Saffron launches today. I’m running a launch week special discount; it’s 99c for a limited time before it goes up to its normal price. You can find it on Amazon, Nook, and iBooks.

If you read it, let me know what you think, and if the sex works the way I think it does.

The Eff It Book

Here’s a brief list of things NOT to learn from me:

1. Engaging your brain filter when speaking

2. Holding beverages in such a way that you don’t spill them on yourself or others

3. Writing alpha males

4. Walking in heels

5. Saying NO

And here are some things you could possibly learn from me:

1. Speaking in front of a crowd without having a panic attack

2. Disengaging your TMI filter

3. Writing when you don’t feel like it

4. Exercising when you don’t feel like it

5. Writing your Eff It Book

Let’s focus on the last one. What is an Eff It book, you might ask? Why, it’s when you reach the point in your writing career where you’ve tried on a lot of hats, but they all look stupid. You’ve probably been trying to follow all the rules and are getting frustrated by a continued stream of rejections. One day, you say “Eff It! I’m going to write the story I want to write just how I want to write it.”

And that’s how Beulah Land and the Happy Hour Choir was born.

I’m not advocating that you write your Eff It Book first. Maybe you’re a better writer than I am. Maybe you’re one of those people who gets her first book published. More than likely, however, you’re going to have to write a lot and learn even more. Your Eff It Book is your voice. If you look at what you’ve written up until this point, you should be able to find some hints of your voice, but your Eff It Book is your voice. Here’s an abbreviated timeline of how I finally got there:

1. Ill-fated historical western romance(1999-2000)—This was my first attempt at a romance novel after I’d read tutorials from both Kathryn Falk and Leigh Michaels. Oh, the complaints I got on this one! First draft: your hero’s not manly enough. Second draft: your hero’s mean and unlikable. Bah. I didn’t have the voice for historicals anyway.

2. Southern fiction piece, aka The Plotless Wonder(2001)—I had some idea of where I needed to go, but I didn’t have all of the tools. This one actually had a couple of bites from an editor and a couple of agents, and it was the piece I submitted as part of my graduate school application. It also had NO PLOT WHATSOEVER. So that happened….or, in this case, didn’t.

3. My attempt at a Harlequin American(2003ish)—At this point I’ve been teaching. I’ve birthed a baby. I see Harlequin has a home and hearth line, and I think I can do small towns. Then I write the hero as a mortician. Kathleen Sheibling, the editor to whom I pitched this story, has the patience of Job. She requested a partial, and I got a really well thought out rejection from Harlequin. It wasn’t a revise and resubmit, but it really showed me what I did well and what I so did not. At this point I had external plot, but that internal plot? Not so much. Also, as it turns out, funeral directors aren’t really what the typical Harlequin reader seeks. Imagine that. The good news: Even though I scrapped the story, it came back to me later when I had THE EPIPHANY.

4. Ill-fated paranormal(2005ish)—I thought to myself, “Self, paranormal is hot. you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What could possibly go wrong?” Oh so many things, Gentle Reader. First, I decided to write about psychics—not a big market for those. Then I put my villain in a wheelchair—he could handle himself, don’t worry. This time I had plot. I had GMC. I still didn’t have a good story. Why? I don’t have the voice for paranormal, and I don’t write alpha males. I should’ve realized the importance of an alpha male hero in a paranormal novel, but, since that’s not my preference, I didn’t put 2 and 2 together until I got the infamous “Man up!” critique.

5. Beulah Land and the Happy Hour Choir(2009-2010)—By the time I got to Beulah, I had been writing stories for at least 20 years. I’d been trying to write something publishable for about 10 years. I’d read every book there was to read about writing. I’d entered contests. I’d submitted my work for critiques. I’d even started my Master in Professional Writing. The critiques had worn me down. Some of the critiques were similar, but so many others were coming from all directions. Nothing made sense other than how I obviously wasn’t any good at writing since I had a stack of rejection letters and had yet to even final in a contest, much less win one. So I got mad. I was sitting in a Mary Buckham/Dianna Love class over in Alabama and thinking about a hymn and thought to myself,

“What would it be like if you were actually named Beulah Land, but you couldn’t seem to do right?”

The rational part of me said, “That involves religion. It might tick people off!”

And the crazy, frustrated, irrational part of me responded, “Eff it! I’ll write what I want to write. It’s not like what I’m doing has worked so far.”

I took all of my frustrations from rejections, critiques, and attempting to make something out of The Plotless Wonder (#2) above, and I shoved them back into the scary recesses of my mind. I told myself to write a story for the love of story. That’s not to say I didn’t plot the story or fill out character sketches or any of the other responsible author things to do. Rather, I didn’t attempt to tailor the story to anyone else’s guidelines.

Lo and behold, if I didn’t win the Duel on the Delta and final in the Maggies. I tweaked the story some more and found representation and finaled in the Golden Heart. All of those accomplishments gave me the confidence to look at my work and find what about it was….mine. One day as I was driving back from the preschool, I had THE EPIPHANY. I gasped then shouted, in that way only writers really do, “Oh, hell! Ginger Belmont is the body at Dec Anderson’s funeral home, and The Fountain is where Romy and Julian sing karaoke! The Satterfields go to church with Ginger!”* Three of my stories were interconnected! I dusted off the cow story that I’d started as a Superromance but abandoned. I took the mortician’s story and revamped it as southern fiction instead of a romance. Voila! My mind had created a community, and I hadn’t even realized it.

Now it’s on to the realm of editing, but at least I have some idea of who I am and what kind of writing makes me happiest. That’s an important clue, you know: the writing that makes you happiest is probably the writing you do best.

So, tell me, my lovelies, have you written an Eff It Book?

Feel like writing one now?

*It’s best to have THE EPIPHANY alone. People look at you funny when you shout statements like that or, “Son of a motherless goat! P.J. Gets her hair cut by Presley, and Mrs. Morris, oh she of the dead cat, is one of the elders in the First Baptist Church. And she’ll be the lone voice of reason!” They haven’t committed me yet, but there’s still time.

A Lady Walks into Target…

Saturday, after having lunch with a friend, I decided to head to Target to pick up Mariah Carey’s new CD. (If you don’t like her, well…it’s OK. Everyone is entitled to their opinion). Target promised a CD with exclusive tracks, and I’m as sucker for getting something extra for free.

This story has a point, I promise. Anyway, I decided to go to a Target near the restaurant where I’d had lunch. This wasn’t my usual Target, but I’d been there a million times when I used to live and work close by.

The CD was the only thing on my to-buy list. I didn’t need anything. I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to buy, so I should have been in and out in five minutes.

In case it’s not blatantly obvious, instead of being in and out in five minutes, I entered since-I’m-here mode as soon as I walked through those double doors.

What’s since-I’m-here mode?

Basically it’s, “Since I’m here, I might as well as look at the clothes since it’s right near the doors and the music section is all the way in the back. Since I’m here, I might as well look at the shoes. Since I’m here, I might as well as see if they have any cute dishes on clearance.” You get the picture.

Since it was a Saturday afternoon, and I didn’t have anything I needed to be doing (other than writing, and surely that doesn’t count), I did nothing to resist since-I’m-here mode. I moseyed on through the clothing section. And then the shoe section. And then the DVD section.

And before I knew it, I was in the book section.

Finally, finally we get to the point of this post. I told you we would.

Anywho, I wanted to check out the book section since it had been awhile since I’d been in this particular Target. Had the shelf space decreased? What books and authors were they carrying?

They had a few aisles of books, but nowhere as many books as they used to carry. The Harlequins that used to be a mainstay of big box stores were nowhere to be found, except the ones from the Kimani line because of the neighborhood’s African-American population.

But one book did catch my attention – Julie James’ It Happened One Wedding. My eyes lit up because the Target closest to my house wasn’t carrying the book. I’m a total Julie fangirl. I also noticed the mass market paperback, Exposed, by Naomi Chase, which happens to be the pseudonym of Maureen Smith, another of my favorite authors. The book had originally been released in trade paperback, and I’m too cheap for trade. I was thrilled to see the cheaper option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I scooped up both books and stared at them instead of putting them in my cart. Why, you ask?

Because now I had a choice to make. Buy the books or go home and order the ebooks, which I knew would probably be a bit cheaper than the physical books and wouldn’t take up more room in house, which is already overrun with books.

I debated my choices for a few minutes. Ultimately I decided to buy the books because I wanted to do my part to make sure the Target book section doesn’t shrink any more than it already has, and I’m a firm believer in competition in the marketplace.

So, if you’re keeping score at home, I walked out of Target with two books and not the CD I originally came in for because they didn’t have the version I wanted, which gave me the perfect excuse to hit up another Target. Always a hardship, you understand.

The end.

Have your book buying habits changed? Do you buy a mixture of ebooks and print books like I do or have you gone all the way digital or are you still print all the way? Do you anticipate your habits changing? Am I crazy for standing in the middle of Target debating myself?

Beautiful Chaos: A Writing Process Blog Tag Post

Last week I was tagged in a blog that’s going through the writing community. The goal is to explore and explain our processes as well as we can (without seeming crazy).

I was tagged by my amazing friend Talia Quinn, a Firebird and Lucky 13 Golden Heart sister, whose next contemporary romance Call Me Saffron comes out June 9th. I can’t wait for this book, the first in her Greenpoint Pleasures series, and I am putting aside some serious time to read it!

1)  What am I working on?

I am currently revising my 2014 Golden Heart manuscript See Her No More. When a woman determined to protect the life she’s built for herself becomes the target of an arms dealer who believes she holds the key to a 12th Century secret, her only chance to stay alive rests within the arms of her ex-Green Beret husband who abandoned her eight years earlier.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

While the books all have Green Beret heroes, they are all out of the military. And not necessarily by choice. I write military romantic suspense with dishonored men, men desperate to clear their names and regain their honor, men who have nothing to lose. This makes my heroes darker than most, but also more determined to succeed.

My heroines, one the other hand, all have a quiet strength and fierce intelligence. Since the heroes are up against a villain who plays with histories greatest secrets–old conspiracy theories–they need the heroines to help them solve the mysteries. While the men bring their guns, strength, tactical and operational knowledge, the women bring the books and unique intelligence to see obscure clues–clues others miss in their everyday life.

I write about Colonel Torridan’s Black Ops Brotherhood. A group of elite soldiers devoted to each other, determined to seek the truth instead of justice, willing to risk their honor, their lives, and their souls to save themselves and the women they love.

3)     Why do I write what I do?

I write because I need to create a world where men and women who’ve been betrayed, lost, or left behind have a chance to prove to themselves that they are worthy of love and acceptance. I write romantic suspense with conspiracy subplots because sometimes those who are powerless or have been rejected unfairly are the only ones who can see the truth.

There is nothing lonelier or darker than being told you’re wrong, unworthy, or delusional yet knowing your fears are real. And sometimes the only way to make yourself heard is to persist against insurmountable odds. The themes I return to are of trust and betrayal, regaining control, fighting and sacrificing for those who are even more powerless than the hero/heroine are, seeking the truth instead of justice, facing–and sometimes embracing–the darkness inside oneself in order to defeat the enemy.

4)     How does my writing process work?

I call it beautiful chaos. I start with a listing of all of the major characters and make sure I know EVERYTHING about them. Their past, their present, and how I want to them turn out far off in the future. Then I make a relationship grid. I usually have 3-4 POVs and at least one subplot so there is a large number of relationships (other than the romance) that needs to be mapped out. How do I want characters to interact? Who changes whom? Who works against whom?

Then I write an outline that takes me weeks to months to write. Everything goes into the outline, including all the backstory and every idea I’ve ever had about the story. This is a time to add, not cut.

Then comes the monstrous first draft. It’s enormous and ugly and so unwieldy that I want to give up before I get to the end. But because I have seriously complex conspiracy plots, I have to overwrite in the first pass. Again, no cutting yet.

Yet, despite the large external plot, the stories are completely character-driven, mostly driven by the romance (80 – 85%) This is where the relationship grid comes into play. As I work through the first draft, moving and cutting, the words are still ugly and awful. But once I get the transformational arcs done, and all the relationship stuff clear in my head, then I can start the revisions.

First I start with cutting out as much backstory and plot as I can.

Then I make sure the internal story drives the external plot.

Then I start what I call the layered revisions. At least three-four passes each for the hero and heroine and the romance, layering and shaping the scenes until I’m satisfied. Then I do at least one pass for each character in the book, regardless if they have a POV. Then I do a pass for things like weather, setting, clothes, etc.

Then comes my favorite part–the part I call the word-smithing. I love graceful words and phrases and this is my chance to make the book as beautiful as possible.

Then I put it aside for a few weeks before re-reading the entire thing from start to finish.

Then I make any other edits I need to, especially if I’ve thought of something in the interim.

After I’m happy with it, I send it to my CPs who Beta read for me. Once they’re happy, I send it to my agent. And then, depending on her input, I revise again or we submit. It sounds so simple and straight-forward when I write it out like this. I really wish it was. I am an agonizingly slow writer.

As a previous dress designer, I am also very visual and when I’m stuck on something, I go for a walk with my camera (usually with children and/or dogs tagging along) and I always find some sort of inspiration behind the lens. Then I have to rush home and write it all down.

And once that book is done, it’s time to start another.

Now, for next week, I’m tagging two wonderful writers and fellow Golden Heart sisters:

Lark Howard:

Lark Howard’s love of reading, writing and travel led her to a degree in English, a string of colorful jobs and a well-worn passport. After college, she escaped to the Virgin Islands for a few years to dive, sail and scribble observations on island life. Back in the states, she used her love of writing to market commercial architecture by day and create novel length fiction at night. She was a 2013 Golden Heart Finalist for her Paranormal Romance, SHADOWS IN THE DEEP, which is set in the Caribbean.  When not traveling to far-away places, Lark lives in Texas with her brilliant designer husband and two of the cutest rescue pups in the world. Look for her writing process post next Monday, June 9, at http://larkwrites.wordpress.com/

and

Gail Hart:

Besides being a writer, Gail Hart is a mediator, recovering lawyer, former Air Force officer, scuba diver, Mustang convertible owner, and chocaholic. Her manuscript Confessions of the World’s Oldest Shotgun Bride was a finalist in the 2013 Golden Heart (R) contest. Look for her writing process post next Monday, June 9, on the Writers Gone Wild blog at http://writersgonewild.blogspot.com/.

All photographs courtesy of Sharon Wray.

Now I’d love to know about your process? Is it ugly and scary? Smooth and easy? A mess? Or inspired?