Lorenda Christensen's Blog, page 7

Firebirds Take Flight!

Today I’d like to share will all of you the awesome flight of our 2012 Firebirds. They’ve taken hold of the wind and let their writing soar. Let’s CELEBRATE!! With some Snoopy dancing and foot tapping, lots of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to seal our lips for those with special news….read on! I’m so pleased to present our published authors….

Heather Ashby:
Henery Press
Love in the Fleet Series
–Forget Me Not – Nov 2013
–Forgive and Forget – Jan 2014

Colette Auclair:
Simon & Schuster [Pocket Star]
The Aspen Valley Series
–Thrown – Dec 2013 [2012 GH Finalist]
–Jumped- Aug 2014

Tamra Baumann:
–Stuff in a strawberry for sealed lips on the special news 

Elizabeth Bemis:
Self-Published
Appleton Series [Spring 2014]
–Fate and Fortune Cookies
–Love and Oreos
–Genius and Gingerbread Men

Romily Bernard:
Harper Teen
–Find Me 2013
–Remember Me – Sept 2014

Susan M. Boyer:
Henery Press
Liz Talbot Mysteries
–Lowcountry Boil Sept 2012 [Agatha Award Winner]
–Lowcountry Bombshell Sept 2013

Magdalen Braden:
Self-Published
The Blackjack Quartet
–Love in Reality Dec 2012
–The Cost of Happiness Dec 2013

Tracy Roper [w/a Tracy Brogan]:
Montlake Publishing
–The Best Medicine, May 13, 2014
–Crazy Little Thing, RITA Finalist, Best First Book 2013
–Hold On My Heart, Contemporary Romance
–Highland Surrender, Historical Romance 2013
–Here and Now Feb 2015
–TBA historical romance Jan 2016

Kat Cantrell:
Harlequin Desire – 15 books
–Marriage with Benefits
–The Things She Says
–The Baby deal
–Pregnant by Morning
–Books 8-15 – TBA
Carina Press
–Mindlink – Science fiction romance

Lorenda Christensen:
Carina Press
–Never Deal with Dragons –GH winner- July 2013
–Dancing with Dragons – Mar 2014
–’Til Dragons Do Us Part – Oct 2014

Laurie Sanchez [w/a Lauren Christopher]:
Berkley-Sensation
–The Red Bikini – July 2014
–The Blue Stiletto—March 2015

Alison Atwater [w/a Alison Delaine]:
Harlequin HQN
-Anthology w/Stephanie Laurens – The Trouble with Virtue
-A Gentleman ‘Til Midnight Dec 2013
-A Wedding by Dawn Apr 2014

Moriah Densley:
Self-Published
A Rougemont Novel Series
–Song for Sophia- Sep 2013
–Mary’s Christmas Knight- Nov 2013 [Novella]
–The King of Threadneedle Street- Dec 2013

Sally Eggert:
Bantam Loveswept
–In The Dark Jan 2014

Kristen Ethridge:
Harlequin – Love Inspired
–Saving Gracie – Feb 2013
Laurel Lock Books
–New Year’s Eve – Jan 2014
–The Cupid Caper – Feb 2014
–Lucky in Love – Apr 2014
–Holiday Hearts, Vol #1 – Apr 2014
–Gorilla Dating – May 2014
–Text on the Beach – July 2014
–TBA Short Contemporary Romance – Sept 2014
–Talk Turkey to Me – Oct 2014
–Mission: Mistletoe – Nov 2014
–Holiday Hearts, Vol #2 – Dec 2014
Nonfiction
–Ike 101: Life Lessons I Learned from a Hurricane and How You Can Recover from Life’s Storms – Sept 2014

Natalie Lloyd-Evans[w/a Natalie Meg Evans]:
Quercus Books, London
Two books-
–The Dress Thief – releasing May 29, 2014 [ebook] June 5th[paperback]
–The Milliner’s Secret – TBA

Karen Fleming [w/a KD Fleming]:
Harlequin – Love Inspired – Heartsong Presents
Three books:
–Campaigning for Love – releasing Sept 2014
–books #2 & 3 TBA

Donna S. Frelick:
Ink’d Press
Interstellar Rescue Series
–Unchained Memory – 2015 [2012 GH Finalist]
–Trouble in Mind – 2015
–Fools Rush In – 2016

Rachel Grant:
Self-published
Evidence Series
–Concrete Evidence- Apr 2013
–Grave Danger- May 2013
–Body of Evidence- Aug 2013
–Withholding Evidence- Mar 2014

Robena Grant:
The Wild Rose Press
–Unlock the Truth – Jan 2013
–The Blue Dolphin – Jan 2013
–Desert Exposure – Apr 2013
–Gone Tropical – Dec 2013

Sally Kilpatrick:
Kensington Publishing
3 books + -
–Beulah Land and the Happy Hour Choir- 2015
–Books #2,3 & 4 – TBA

Wendy LaCapra:
Entangled Publishing-Scandalous
— The Furies- Book 1 – Lady Vice – 2014

Kim Law:
Montlake Publishing – Romance
The Davenports Series:
–Caught on Camera – Oct 2012
–Caught in the Act – Jan 2015
The Sugar Springs Series:
–Sugar Springs – Dec 2012
–Sweet Nothings – Jan 2014
The Turtle Island Series:
–Ex on the Beach Jan 2013
–Hot Buttered Yum Oct 2013
–Two Turtle Island Doves [Novella] Dec 2013 – Amazon Pub/StoryFront
Penquin Digital – Intermix
–Cowboys for Christmas – Anthology [Marry Me, Cowboy(novella) Nov 2014]

A J Larrieu:
Carina Press
–Twisted Miracles – April 2014

–Dangerous Calling – August 2014

–Broken Shadows – 2015

Self-Published
–Novella- Anchored – 2013

Jennifer McQuiston:
Avon
–What Happens in Scotland – 2012
–Summer is for Lovers – 2013
–Moonlight on my Mind – 2014

Janet Nash:
Soul Mate Publishing-Inspirational RomSusp
–Invisible Surveillance- Dec 2013
–Powerless Consent – Feb 2014

Terri Osburn:
Montlake Publishing-Romance
Anchor Island Novel Series
–Meant to Be- May 2013
–Up to the Challenge- Oct 2013
–Home to Stay- May 2014
–book #4 –Anchor Series
–2 books- Ardent Springs Series
Penquin Digital – Intermix
–Cowboys for Christmas – Anthology Nov 2014

Carol J. Post:
Harlequin – Love Inspired Suspense
–Midnight Shadows – Jan 2013
–Motive for Murder – Feb 2014
–Out for Justice – Jun 2014
–3 more books- TBA – Have a strawberry! 

Talia Quinn:
Self-Published
–What’s Yours is Mine Jan 2014 [2013 GH Finalist]
Greenpoint Artists Series
–Draw Me In –[Novella]- Jan 2014
–Hold Me Tight- Jan 2014 [2012 Golden Heart winner]
–Dream of Me – TBA
Short Novel
–Call Me Saffron – June 2014

Natalie Vawtner [w/a Natalie D. Richards]:
Sourcebooks Fire
–Six Months Later – Oct 2013

Kathleen Bittner Roth:
Entangled Publishing
Two historical romance novels
–The Seduction of Sarah Marks – June 2014
–A Duke’s Wicked Kiss – Aug 2014 [2012 GH Finalist]
Kensington Publishing
Three-book Historical Romance Series
–Celine – Oct 2014
–Alanna – Nov 2014
–Josette – Sept 2015

Nicki Salcedo:
Belle Bridge Books
–All Beautiful Things Jan 2014

Anna J Stewart:
Harlequin – Heartwarming
–Novella – The Christmas Wish – Dec 2014
Berkley – Intermix
Lantano Valley Series, Contemporary Romance
–Asking For Trouble- 2014/2015
–Here Comes Trouble – 2014/2015
–The Trouble with Nathan – 2014/2015

Ami Weaver:
Harlequin
–An Accidental Family – May 2013
–In the Line of Duty – Sep 2013
–The Nanny’s Christmas Wish- Nov 2013

Jamie Wesley:
Entangled Publishing
–Tell Me Something Good – 2014

Cecily White:
Entangled Publishing – Teen
Angel Academy Series
-Prophecy Girl – Apr 2013

Let’s hear a round of applause for the Firebirds! And a double shot of encouragement for those Firebirds still pushing into the void. It only takes one work and your dream is a reality. Go do it!! 

Launch party: AJ Larrieu’s Twisted Miracles

Our Firebird friend AJ Larrieu’s fantastic debut novel, Twisted Miracles, came out with Carina Press last week. I’ve had the privilege of reading Dangerous Calling, its sequel, and AJ’s self-published novella, Anchored, which takes place in the same world. I honestly think AJ can take her place in the urban fantasy / paranormal romance echelon alongside some of my favorite authors like Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews.

Yes, she’s that good, people. Richly conceived world building, three dimensional characters I care about, plots that ratchet the tension and the stakes up and then up again, and yep, luscious romances and strong writing craft. So I rubbed my hands together with glee when she said I could interview her for this blog launch.

 So tell us a bit about Twisted Miracles:

 First let me say—wow! What an awesome introduction! Thank you so much. I will be content to write well in the shadow of those very talented authors for the whole of my career.

 Here’s the official description of Twisted Miracles:

  Cass Weatherfield’s powers come with a deadly price.

 Cass knows it was her telekinetic gift that killed a college classmate five years back, even if no one else believes her. She’s lived in hiding from her fellow shadowminds ever since, plagued by guilt and suppressing her abilities with sedatives. Until the night her past walks back into her life in the form of sexy Shane Tanner, the ex-boyfriend who trained her…and the one she left without saying goodbye.

When Shane tells her that his twin sister, Mina—Cass’s childhood friend—is missing, Cass vows to help, which means returning to New Orleans to use her dangerous skills in the search. But finding Mina only leads to darker questions. As Cass and Shane race to learn who is targeting shadowminds, they find themselves drawn to each other, body and soul. Just as their powerful intimacy reignites, events take a terrifying turn, and Cass realizes that to save the people she loves, she must embrace the powers that ruined her life.

The unofficial description is this: It’s the story of a woman who’s lost her place in the world, and how she finds it again.

Can you describe how you came up with this world? It’s so much like our own, but with angel guardians watching over each major city who are anchored to that city, and a secret community of shadowminds with psychic abilities. No shifters (yet?), few vampires, no dragons. And although Cass and Susannah are certainly powerful women, they don’t ever wear leather or carry swords. What compelled you to go in this direction?

 The world came to me in a very organic way. I started with the idea that people could apply mental energy externally, and then I did the thought experiment—what would be possible? The various abilities my characters have followed from there. I even worked out the genetics of how various gifts are inherited. But that’s just me being nerdy. On another level, I love paranormal fiction where the supernatural world is separate and hidden—as though you need to know the password to get in. I wanted my world of shadowminds to feel like a slightly-off mirror image of our own, as though the book is your secret passage to something just below the surface of the familiar.

  I love that description of the book as a secret passage, and that’s how it feels to me reading it, as if shadowminds really do live among us.

What do you think is the dividing line between urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and where do you fall along that continuum?

 I think that line is blurry. Or, maybe a better way to put it is this: I think it’s not a line, but a scale. Enough stones on the relationship side, and you’ve got a paranormal romance. When the world-building, overarching plot arcs and master villains outweigh the romance, I think you’ve got urban fantasy, or paranormal fantasy, or whatever we’re calling it these days. I think my books are right at the tipping point of the scale, which makes them hard to classify. But those are the stories I like to read.

  I feel the same. They appeal both to the SF/F reader and the romance reader in me. Speaking of romance, how do you keep the romantic tension fresh in each book? Twisted Miracles has a bit of a love triangle which is resolved before the end of the book. Does the other guy show up again later on, or do other complications arise as the series progresses?

I think of relationships as living, evolving things. They either adapt to handle new challenges, or they die. A lot of the romantic tension between Cass and Shane comes not from secondary love interests, but from their struggle to adapt as their destinies put new obstacles between them. In any relationship, the things each person needs from the other are going to change over time, and for Cass and Shane, those needs end up having a lot of impact on them as individuals. They don’t have an easy path ahead of them—but I promise they’ll persevere.

  This works for me. They live in a complex, difficult world, don’t they? And that in and of itself can be a very natural source of tension. Which you use so well. You claim you’re a pantser, but your books have such strong forward momentum and are intricately plotted. Does all the magic happen in the rewrites, or is your subconscious just incredibly good at knowing how to structure a story? (In which case, can I borrow yours for a while? Mine’s, uh, at the dry cleaners. Yeah. That’s it.)

Aw, thanks! The truth is, I’ve never been able to write linearly—but I definitely don’t keep everything in my head! I tend to start by writing the turning points of the story (and if I’m being honest, those are often the sex scenes). Once the big turning points are written, I discover the smaller ones, and then the even smaller ones, and so on. Then I puzzle everything together, throw out what doesn’t make sense, and see what the plot looks like. I’ll often write down each scene on an index card and lay the cards out on the living room rug, moving things around in sequence or putting cards higher or lower to indicate the level of tension the scene needs. I re-order, re-write, lather, rinse repeat. I wish I were a plotter. It sounds a lot less painful.

  Ha! Maybe a bit less painful, yeah. I confess, the idea of writing nonlinearly make s my brain hurt.

  You’ve done something I think is unique: your main book series centers on the single character and her world, but your novella was about a different heroine, Susannah, guardian of Biloxi, and you’ve hinted that your next novella will be about another guardian. Will you continue along these lines, with the novellas shedding light on other parts of your fascinating world?

 Right now, I’m contracted for two books told in Cass’s voice and a third told in a different voice and set in a different city. I’ve also have plans for future novellas about more the guardians. I think of my fictional universe in city-sized chunks–there are a handful of cities that have their own plot arcs, plus the characters who will make those destinies happen.

  I assume these stories will mostly be centered in the same area? You’ve got stories set in New Orleans and Biloxi, with intimations of shadowmind activity in other nearby cities. Why the South? It seems to have a strong pull for so many paranormal-leaning writers–everyone from Anne Rice to Charlaine Harris. Tell us about your version of Louisiana and Mississippi and what draws you to portray that in your books.

I was born and raised in the South, so it felt very natural for me to write stories set there. I also like books in which the settings play a strong role, so I wanted to write a place I understood. I do have some ideas about why so many paranormal fiction authors seem to gravitate toward Southern settings—in fact, I’ll be part of a panel on Southern Urban Fantasy at the RT Booklovers’ Convention in New Orleans this May, and we’ll be talking about this exact topic. It would be easy to say that the romantic, almost mythical quality of the South makes a fertile ground for spooky stories, but I think it goes deeper than that. The cultural fabric of the South is complex. It has so many beautiful aspects, yet so many flaws, and more than a little darkness. Exploring and understanding that kind of complexity is part of writing fiction. 

Beautifully said. Thank you for your thoughtful answers, AJ! It was a pleasure to interview you, and I wish you oodles of success, if for no other reason than I selfishly want to read many more of your books.

 Thanks for the awesome interview! I had so much fun with these questions.

You can find Twisted Miracles on Amazon, Nook, and other online vendors, and read more about AJ at her website. 

6 Writing Tips I Learned While Lying on My Sofa

I binge. I am a binger. Over the past few weeks, I have binge-watched “The Americans,” “Game of Thrones” (which, for obvious reasons, I want to rename “Game of Throwns”), the final season of “Breaking Bad” and “True Detective.” Here’s what I have learned, in no particular order because I am lazy about these things.

1. Need to resolve one conflict while simultaneously creating more? Slit a throat! This is mostly used in “Game of Thrones,” but I wouldn’t put it past “The Americans” or “Breaking Bad.” I’m not sure I can use this technique in my light, witty contemporaries, but perhaps a figurative slitting of a throat can come into play.

2. Keep your heroine looking her best by slinging her long hair over one shoulder at all times. Watch “The Americans” if only to see Keri Russel’s hair. It is voluptuous and voluminous and always (and I mean always) over one shoulder. If spotting it were a drinking game, no one would be sober after thirty minutes. The lesson? Maintain realism. The hair-over-one-shoulder is distracting in an otherwise fairly gritty and compelling show. Hair plays a very different role in “Breaking Bad,” where Walter White starts out with hair, then has chemo and loses his hair, then shaves his head because he’s become more sinister.

3. Journeys are great for pacing. Literally and figuratively. “Game of Thrones” is one big journey, more or less. An epic saga with lavish sets and a million extras (and plenty of horse eye-candy for me), journeys are its birthright. And as much as I feel sorry for the characters, few of whom ever seem to catch a break (or take a bath), all that conflict sure makes the story trot along.

4. Make your characters complex enough to care about. In “True Detective,” Rust (Matthew McConaughey) is an obsessive, brilliant, socially inept detective who is haunted by his brutal past. Martin (Woody Harrelson) is genial, good at his job, and loves his wife and daughters, but he also has a frightening temper and an adulterous streak. These are flawed, multi-faceted characters, and although I might not want to have dinner with them, I sure did care about them. Then there’s Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister in “Game of Thrones”—love him! Because he’s your basic charming, handsome, drunk, womanizing ne’er do well, but he’s also scathingly intelligent, caring, tortured by his family and the moral compass for the Lannister clan, who tend toward evil to maintain their power. Oh, and he’s a dwarf. So there’s that. Complexity a go-go.

5. Conversely, avoid making your characters too limited. I might get some pushback on this one based on the examples I’m about to throw your way. I watched the entire first season and episode one of the second season of “House of Cards” starring Kevin Spacey, and the pilot episode of “Scandal.” I love Kevin Spacey and I’ve heard good things about “Scandal.” However… Spacey’s Frank Underwood is interesting, but so diabolical as to be a caricature of a power-mad, stop-at-nothing politician. In “Scandal,” Olivia Bishop and her crew are simply too good, too smart and too fast-talking (and they all sound alike) for me to take them seriously. In both shows there’s conflict, but it’s unsatisfying.

6. Choose habits/gestures/vices that enrich your characters—and make the habit interesting. I know I just pooed all over Frank Underwood in “House of Cards,” but now I’m going to say something I liked. He and the other half of the über-power-couple, Claire (Robin Wright), share a nightly cigarette while sitting in their open bay window. It’s a device that advances the plot and characterization, both because of what they talk about, but also because it offers a glimpse into their marriage. The activity is intimate, but potentially deadly too. And it’s a rather unusual ritual.

A final note about perfect characters. In Thrown, my hero Grady is not perfect. He can be petty. He has a temper. Jealousy almost does him in. He’s not a bad guy, but yeah, he makes some bone-headed decisions and is sometimes a dolt. I thought this was a good thing, that he was more human, with issues to overcome. Imagine my shock and surprise when some readers hated him. I know there are romances where the hero is practically perfect, where he never puts a gorgeous foot wrong and his internal conflict springs from some terrible event in his past. But I guess I prefer heroes who are perfectly…imperfect. Even Ted Beaudine, Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ perfect hero goes all imperfect—deliciously so—in his story, Call Me Irresistible. So I’m in good company.

What have you learned from television shows, good or bad? Do share!

Blog Tag: I’m It!

 

A couple of weeks ago I agreed to join in a romance writers’ blog tag. I like games. I like romance writers. Sounded like fun.

This is me, the person who is supposed to be learning to say, “Thanks, I’d love to help/say yes/join in, but I’m swamped right now and have to pass for now.”

Instead, I said, “SURE!” Then promptly was hit by a deluge of issues at work and in my personal life.

So, I’m playing Blog Tag and here’s how it works. But note: I’m missing some of the info at the end so I’ll be back later this week to share the next Blog Taggers’ information.

My friend Rachell Nichole blogged with her answers to the questions below last Monday. At the end of her blog, she shared my bio and blog address along with another romance writer’s info.

If you’d like to read Rachell’s blog, here’s the address: www.divasofdesire.blogspot.com .

Today (another Monday) I’m gonna answer the questions. But, I don’t have new Blog Taggers quite yet—I still need a few days as I forgot this part of the game (I know, I know, it’s TAG, dummy. You need more players for a game of TAG! I had a brain lapse.)

So I hope you’ll come back and look for the Taggers. They’ll be awesome writers. Fun people to meet and chat with—I’m just sure of it!

 

And for now, here’s my take on the Blog Tag questions:

 

What am I working on?

Currently I’m working on revisions for my last novel entitled His Perfect Partner, a long contemporary romance. It’s been a slow process for me as I’ve had a lot on my plate with my day-job, family, and volunteer obligations. The manuscript hasn’t sold—YET—so I’m not on a publisher’s deadline. However, I know my agent would like my revisions sooner rather than later and I’m behind based on the timetable I set for myself.

So, I need to get cracking!!

 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work differs from the typical romance novel because my novels feature Latino characters. Sometimes it’s the heroine or hero; sometimes it’s both. But I enjoy bringing my culture to life on the page.

 

Why do I write what I do?

I guess I got ahead of myself in the previous question and started answering this one. 

I write romance novels because I truly believe they are beautiful testaments that good people in healthy relationships can achieve almost anything. That love can prevail if and when a couple brings out the best in each other.

I write about Latino characters because I’m Latina and I enjoying sharing my heritage and culture with others in a way that doesn’t involve stereotypes and caricatures.

Romance, sexual tension, sensuality, and emotions help us feel alive. I’m a people person, most of the time. Creating characters I love, sharing their story with others…it makes me happy. And hopefully, that happiness spreads to those who read my work.

 

How does your writing process work?

Wow, this can vary. I’ve been known to work in a busy restaurant, ignoring the hullabaloo of noise created by so many people coming and going. That stems from finishing three college degrees with a houseful of kids. I can tune out noise or unwanted chatter like nobody’s business.

But I also enjoy sitting at my desk, music playing in my earphones, a scented candle lit beside me.

I’ll say, I am what’s known as a “plotter.” Meaning, I have to create an outline of scenes that I believe will take me from the beginning to the end of my story. I have character sketches and GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) charts. I even interview my characters to get to know them better.

In real life I’m a talker, and I can ramble like the best of them. With my writing, I don’t have the time to just start typing away and seeing where the story takes me. My writing time is limited. I like to know where I’m going and what’s supposed to happen in the scene I’m working on at the moment. This is why you may find me talking to myself as I’m driving or washing dishes or out for a run. Because I’m thinking about my next scene if I’m in the middle of a book or a new character if I’m just starting out. I try to keep my story on my mind so that when I finally get to the computer I’m ready to go. No staring at the cursor blinking at me from a blank page.

But, with my busy life, there are times where it’s days before I get back to my writing. That’s not good. I tend to write in spurts. I’ll miss some time at the keyboard,  and then, I’ll be up ‘til 4 am two nights in a row, hyped up on diet Coke, popcorn and sugar while I bang out a bunch of pages, and wind up like a walking zombie for a couple days after. It’s not the healthiest of processes, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. 

 So, now you know a little about what I do in my free time—write—along with why and how! What about you? Stop by and share about your writing or any other hobby you may have.

And next week, be sure to with the next writers on the Blog Tag. I’ll have their info right here for you—SOON!

 

Whatcha Reading? April Edition

In February, I wrote a post asking what everyone was reading. I loved the different responses I got and figured if ain’t broken, why fix it? I love reading and I love talking about books. One of my favorite memories is going to my first national RWA conference and being surrounded by 2000 people who got why I read romance. I could mention a favorite author and people’s eyes would light up, not narrow in confusion because they’d never heard of her or in disdain because they looked down on the romance genre.

Anywho, I’ve wandered off topic. I just finished Shannon McKenna’s Fatal Strike. I adore her. Always have since I “discovered” her in an anthology more than a decade ago. She had the best novella in the bunch, in my humble opinion, and I was instantly hooked. I’ve read everything she’s ever written. When she came to the RWA conference in New York a few years ago, I’m afraid I scared her. There was much gushing. She didn’t know what to say other than thank you. It was great.

Anyway, she writes romantic suspense, and somewhere along the line, she started adding a paranormal element. I’m the contemporary queen, and I don’t even care. Her books are that engrossing to me.

Fatal Strike was no different. I mean who’s not up for some mind melding, telepathy, telekinesis and some other stuff I can’t remember? I just happily go along for the ride no matter how outlandish the plot. The hero, Miles, has been a secondary character in her other McCloud Brother series books and it was nice to see him all grown up, taking charge, and kicking butt.

And did I mention that her books are hot, hot, hot? There was an oh-so-hot scene in Fatal Strike that featured the heroine and hero for the next book in the series. Because I am an addict, I went straight to her website to see when that book was coming out. Not till next year – BOO! – but she did have an excerpt posted and now I’m even more excited for that book. I am sad because it’s the last in the series, but it’s been a great ride!

Okay, I’m done gushing now.

So what about you? What are you reading? Got any good recs?

All Things Marvel

I have a baby brother. Meaning, even though he’s an adult at 6’ 2”, I’m still 11 years older. I don’t remember him reading comics books when he was little. And I would have been the one to grow his stash, ‘cause I can admit now, I spoiled him rotten. J

But he’s always loved Superman and the Hulk. I was happy to skip the theatre and wait for it to release on television after Christopher Reeve stopped being the Man of Steel. But the bro lured me to my first Ironman movie using the “awesome in whatever he stars in” Robert Downey, Jr as bait. And RDJ didn’t disappoint. Neither did Marvel Studios.    

I was hooked. Then came Ironman 2. Not as much my favorite, but still, I’ll watch almost anything with RDJ in it.

The creators at Marvel Studios were on to something. They took these characters from comic books no adult female would willingly thumb through while trapped in the waiting room of a dentist’s office with no cell reception, and cast the movies with actors whose caliber of acting skills put them in the highly superior category. Moms were telling hubbies, “I’ll go sit through the movie with Johnny; you took out the trash once last week. It’s only fair.”     

The acting, the story, the cinematography, the directing all were as rich and vibrantly compelling visually as any written description a multi-award winning author could ever imagine. Then came Thor. Thor 1 didn’t resonate with me so much. I have a friend who wanted me to undergo a psych eval because it was Chris Hemsworth.  He is pretty, but he was sooo young—my baby brother is older than he was. The acting was good, but it didn’t knock my socks off.   

Then came Captain America.   Critics were saying no one would remember anything Chris Evans played in prior to becoming Steve Rogers in Captain America—The First Avenger. Marvel Studios took an old fashioned, traditional character from wartime in the late 30’s to 40’s and instead of conforming him to today’s views and values, let him remain a true man of his time—a time of war and patriotism and discovery that shaped our country. It was impressive. The critics were right; I had forgotten he’d played the Human Torch. He was much more smoking in Captain America and that carried over to The Avengers.      

All that talent, special effects, quality writing, and amazing acting are what make The Avengers my personal measuring stick for any action movie. Mark Ruffalo is the best Hulk/Dr. Banner I’ve ever watched on the big screen.  

                                                                          

Then came Ironman 3. Oh, my. It so redeemed itself from the not as impressive I2.          

                                   

 

Next Marvel gave us the lushest, grandest cinematography awesomeness as yet with Thor 2. 

                           

It was on the caliber of the epics like The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Marvel was growing their market and defining their brand. They didn’t disappoint on any level. Thor was a man with a wiser and more mature view of the challenges he faced. And we saw that growth arc on the screen. We were connected and invested in how the story would end. And Loki. The depth of character, the level of his evilness, and his relentless quest for the power he’d been denied were fabulous.

The Avengers used the strengths of each character and the actors portraying them without letting them overshadow each other. Thor 2 allowed Thor and Loki to share the screen in larger-than-life richness that complemented both characters and their skills. I haven’t even mentioned the growth of Pepper Potts character over the three Ironman movies, or Hawkeye, The Black Widow, Nick Fury, or Phil Coulson. There isn’t time.     

BECAUSE, on Friday, April 4th, Captain America—The Winter Soldier is here. FINALLY. Woohoo!! The depth of character commitment Marvel Studios continues to invest in these films grows with each release. Robert Redford is in this latest one. It isn’t just about the comic book story. There’s intrigue. A crisis of belief and uncertainty about who to trust that are very compelling.

So why is a romance author going on about comic book characters featured in their own movies? The characterization and growth arc of those characters is why. The screenwriters, no matter how many “big” or “main” characters were in the movie, did not allow any of them to be overshadowed or come off as weak next to the others. The writers used unexpected alliances and life or death circumstances to forge immediate and long-term partnerships between the characters.

Any author trying to give their characters more depth or “show” their character’s growth arc within the story can use these advanced visual examples of those techniques in high definition color on a giant, megatron screen–with popcorn.

Lessons and inspiration are all around us and sometimes we find them in places we never would have thought to look. And none of these are hard on the eyes.

What movie has left an impression on you and your writing or taught you a better way to portray your characters?

I can’t wait to hear your answers.

 

 

     **All photos from IMDB.com

                          

 

 

                            

 

WHY I WRITE ROMANCE

You’ve likely read stories of someone standing at the edge of a twenty-story building ready to heave off. At the sight of a trained specialist trying to dissuade the individual, the crowd goes wild. The air is suddenly filled with the electric mantra, “jump, jump, jump!”

Why would people cry out such a terrible thing to a broken human being? It is ecstasy gone awry.

Say the word ecstasy aloud in a crowded room and people are likely to respond with x rated thoughts. But the feeling of ecstasy is as natural and vital a human function as is breathing. However, suppress the expression of ecstasy in healthy, creative endeavors, and it will eventually break out in dysfunctional ways.

Essential ecstasy can be found in a world inhabited by story tellers, artists, songwriters and dreamers. These people bring to us a life felt through all our senses. The ecstasy Michelangelo experienced as he created the Pietà may seem to be an entirely different sensation than the ecstasy of a crowd yelling, “jump,” but in fact, it is the same emotion—one is expressed through the sensuous world, the other breaks out from the darkness into the spiritless world of depraved emotions.

Living a creative, sensuous life filled with healthy emotions and one’s world is enhanced by keen awareness. Here is a world that fairly explodes in a rich profusion of beauty, of intense arousal where even the simplest touch of a finger drawn lazily across the bare skin of a slumbering lover’s back causes that lover to awaken with senses keenly intensified. Colors seem more radiant—the eyes seem bluer, the skin creamier as the sun filtering through the drapes dances off the other lover’s body. The couple leaves their bed filled with an inner joy that gladdens the heart. This joyfulness, carried throughout the day, has the capacity to wash away negative onslaughts like a gentle summer rain.

Is it “normal” for us to lead joyful lives on a daily basis by intentionally seeking the feelings of ecstasy? Or is that all nonsense existing only in romance novels? Could all this sensation be too much? While society gives us permission to think—in fact, it rewards us for thinking, complete with diplomas on our walls for practiced thinking—it often doesn’t take seriously our feeling nature. Such emotion doesn’t seem to carry much weight in the world at large.

However, it is an undisputed fact among clinical psychologists that if a healthy, ecstatic impulse is not lived out, then it retreats inside of us and tends to develop ugly, anti-human qualities. What should have been a natural human impulse transmutes into an animalistic urge that eventually breaks out in dysfunctional ways and spills out into society (remember the Oklahoma City bombing).

Thinking is what brings clarity and objectivity to a person or a society. But only feeling can bring a sense of value and worth to a person. Such is the chief function of feeling. Without feeling there is no value judgment—there simply cannot be. Our self-esteem comes not from what we think of ourselves, but from how we “feel” about ourselves. Feeling is the sublime part of a man and woman. Feeling brings warmth, gentleness, relatedness and perception to a relationship. Feeling is the sublime art of having a value structure and a sense of meaning and belonging. It is the part that draws love to us.

We’ve paid a high price for the cold, precise, scientific world we live in where romance is considered a dalliance and romance novels are often scorned as simply unrealistic (yet murder stories are considered fun, thrilling reading—think about that for a moment). We’ve ended up with nations comprised of wounded beings where men and women suffer their offenses quite differently. For the most part, men drink or overwork. Women eat and overwork. Men war and abuse. Women retreat and isolate. Countries that are scientifically-oriented are more likely to break out in ecstatic disorientation if the people in it do not fill their lives with ecstasy through their feeling natures, such as poetry, music, creativity and romance.

Did I use the word ROMANCE? Another silly word in a highly intellectual society, isn’t it?

 Or is it?

Romance was the first step of the evolution of the spirit of man to truly understand the energy of divine love. Did you know that the first romantic notions of love in western society came from the twelfth century? It was in France that a new religious movement put a female in as a sacred godhead. As a way to counteract this movement, the church put Mary back into Catholicism, gifting her with the many powers of the ancient pagan goddesses. The new religious movement was suppressed, and forced to go underground. Thus romanticism sprang from this underground observance of the goddess. Eventually, it resurfaced in the courts of kings and queens, where evidence of it could be found in the chivalric reverence for women. The chivalrous knights would often be in love with their queen or princesses, but this romantic love was never consummated sexually because it was considered the myth of love.

I often make the statement that romance novels should be required reading for both sexes as part of our essential education so that men can learn how to please and satisfy a woman. Hey, aren’t we women who write the stories directly telling men how we want to be treated (I know, I know, most of our heroes have great abs and killer looks, but give us what we require and in our mind’s eyes, we’ll see you that way)?

What healthy person doesn’t want to experience love? It is the grand intangible. Love is such a wonderful, necessary part of our beings. Without it we would wither and die. Romance, ecstasy and ultimately, love, are such powerful human drives that they have kindled wars, created works of art, consoled the dying, driven kings mad and bankrupted nations. Love is the most important aspect of our existence, yet we spend our lives searching for it when a simple act of vulnerability toward our feeling nature will cause it to spring forward and attach to us like metal to a magnet.

Love is the vital, pulse-beating passion within us. It is derived from our important feeling nature that lends us creativity and a sense of joy. It is through our feelings that we experience our purpose and the special, ecstatic moments in our lives. It is through our feelings that our lives are given meaning and worth. It is through our romancing one another in healthy, ecstatic ways that helps us touch the intangible face of God.

And that is why I write romance. If you are a writer of romance, can you tell my why you do, as well? I’m always so interested to know.

Kathleen Bittner Roth writes historical romance. The Seduction of Sarah Marks, the first of five of books will release in June. You can reach her at www.kathleenbittnerroth.com or on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

Carina Press – How small press can help build careers.

Firebirds Lorenda Christensen and AJ Larrieu have a lot of things in common in their path to publication. Both were finalists in the 2012 Golden Heart ® competition in paranormal romance (which Lorenda won—Hooray, Lorenda!), and both eventually signed contracts with Carina Press to publish those manuscripts—plus a few more. Today, they’re chatting about what it’s like working with a digital publisher.

AJ: I thought we could start by talking about the nuts and bolts of how we ended up publishing with Carina. What was your process like?

Lorenda: I pitched my GH manuscript to Angela James at the 2012 RWA Conference. It was my very first conference, and my very first in-person meet with an editor. I chose to pitch her because I’d just recently taken a class led by Angela, called “Before You Hit Send”, and I was impressed with her ability to convey a wealth of information in a very approachable and easy to understand format.
I’m a nervous babbler, so it should come as no surprise that I started my pitch by asking her to pull me out of the walkway if I accidentally hyperventilated and passed out in someone’s footpath. She was quite gracious, and agreed to at least find someone to do it for her. (

A couple of weeks later, I got two offers on my manuscript, and one of those offers was from Carina Press.

AJ: Oh, in-person pitches terrify me! I probably would have babbled just as much. My situation was a little different. I actually signed with Carina through my agent. I found my agent querying my GH manuscript before it finaled, and we found a good fit for it at Carina. I was really impressed with their willingness to take risks with different kinds of stories. My books straddle the line between paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and I was glad to find a publisher that wasn’t thrown by that.
What made you pick Carina over your other offer?

Lorenda: What really sold me was my conversation with Angela when she offered for my manuscript. She didn’t tell me my manuscript was perfect. In fact, she specifically mentioned that there were some parts that needed some work. And that was exactly what I needed to hear. Never Deal with Dragons was my first finished manuscript. And while I suspect I will always have an over-inflated ego—I think authors must possess either ego or massive quantities of bravery to put their work in front of others—I wasn’t stupid enough to assume my work would be perfect. So I was very glad to speak with someone who didn’t try to ignore my faults, but instead was willing to help me fix them.

AJ: I think this is such an important point. As a writer, I really want someone who will push me to be better. If I wanted to hear my manuscript was perfect, I’d show it to my mom. What I want is for someone who gets my voice to help me be even more true to that voice.

I feel incredibly lucky to work with Deb, my editor at Carina. We’ve been through two books together now, and she never fails to bring out the best in my stories. She sees weaknesses even my most trusted critique partners don’t pick up on, and I come through every round of editing knowing the book is so much better. She knows my strengths as a writer, and she helps me play to them.
What has the editing process been like for you?

Lorenda: When people ask me about my experience with Carina, the very first thing I mention is the quality and quantity of the editing. Not only was my debut novel picked at with a fine-toothed comb, my new editor, Kerri Buckley, absolutely saved my life with Dancing with Dragons. When I signed with Carina, it was for three books. They let me decide on the due dates for my next two books (at that point, I hadn’t started on either), and I set my deadlines six months apart. At the time, I was living in India, working only part time at my dayjob, and I felt that six months was plenty of time to write a book.

I was utterly, completely wrong. Not only was my goal overly, shall we say, enthusiastic, I had some personal issues pop up right in the middle of book two. The stress of those things, combined with a move from India back to the US, and the attack of the “second book curse” caused me to write the most craptastic story I’d ever seen. Trust me when I tell you that I was NOT proud of that first draft. But I was so thrown by my absolute failure to meet my deadline, I couldn’t even calm myself enough to figure out how to fix it. But Kerri read the draft, and zeroed in on all the issues I was too panicked to see for myself. (

AJ: I know Carina is now listing editors on the copyright pages along with writers, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about that decision. I think the author-editor relationship can be a truly synergistic partnership.
Another thing I’ve been so pleased with working with Carina is that they really support me as an author. They’ve signed me up for multiple books, and they’re invested in promoting the whole series. Plus, they’re totally supportive of my self-publishing efforts. I have a novella out now with plans to publish more, and that’s no problem for them at all. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Lorenda: Definitely! I appreciate that they meant it when they told me that they are interested in building an author’s career, not just selling random books. Because that is exactly what I am trying to do. I’m at the very beginning of what I hope will be a long and profitable career in publishing. I was pleasantly surprised that I get not only the support of the Carina imprint, but Harlequin’s as well. Did I mention that my books are going to print as part of Harlequin’s Reader Services? Pretty cool, huh?

AJ: So awesome! And I definitely agree. As a new author, it’s been great to have the support of a professional marketing team.

Lorenda: So I think it’s safe to say that both of us are glad to be working with the Carina team!

–
Lorenda’s second novel, Dancing with Dragons, came out on March 17th, and AJ’s first, Twisted Miracles, will be out on April 7th. Both have many more installments planned in their paranormal series.

So, Dear Readers, what else do you want to know about publishing with a small press? Feel free to ask us ANYTHING in the comments below. (And while I won’t speak for AJ, I will say that I think the idea of TMI is completely stupid. So really, ask me anything.)

It’s RITA/Golden Heart Day! Let’s Celebrate!!

Today is the day romance writers, unpublished and published, wait for all year. The day they hopefully will receive The Call. No, not the call saying they’ve sold a book (although that’s super, super amazing, too), but The Call indicating they are either a Golden Heart or RITA finalist. That they’ve made the cut out of the hundreds/thousands of entries.

I’ll never forget the day two years ago when I woke up and my first thought was, OMG! It’s Golden Heart Day! The day I debated taking a shower because I didn’t want to miss The Call. (Don’t worry. I regained my senses and took the shower.). As it turns out, despite having my cell phone glued to my hip, I did miss The Call because my phone had an annoying tendency of not ringing and going straight to voice mail. Oh, it would beep to let me know I had a voice mail, but ring to let me know someone was calling? Ha! And yes, that phone has been replaced.

But, on the other side of the token, last year, I woke up again excited about possibly receiving The Call. Except it didn’t come. And that sucked!! It still sucks a year later because, as former NFL head coach Herm Edwards said so famously, “You play to win the game!”*

So today, March 26, is the most awesomest of days for some, and not so much for others. So let us celebrate those who got The Call and those who bravely put themselves out there to be judged by their peers. Because that crap ain’t easy, believe you me.

Did you get The Call today? Share, share! The Firebirds want to celebrate with you! Can you top my “The Call That Wasn’t” story?

 

*Did you doubt my ability to get a sports reference in? You poor, unfortunate soul.**

**And a Disney reference, too. Come on, people. This is me we’re talking about.

Joyful Noise: Lessons Learned from the Yam Girl

“Yams? I don’t want yams!” The woman ahead of me yelled at the cashier of my local grocery store. “I want sweet potatoes.” She slammed down a plastic bag and got in the cashier’s pale face. “And I want them now.”

I checked my watch and bit the inside of my mouth until I tasted blood. I was late and my arms hurt from holding two bakery boxes of muffins and a half-gallon of orange juice.

All of the self-checkout lanes were getting their yearly computer upgrades and I was in the “10 items and under” lane which had a short conveyor belt I couldn’t reach yet. So I kept my gaze on a nearby flyer. White paper with black letters that had two words.

Joyful Noise.

“But these are sweet potatoes,” the soft-spoken cashier said. “They are the same thing.”

“Yams are not sweet potatoes,” said the woman I’d just dubbed Yam Girl. “I am a certified organic chef and I want to see your manager.”

“He doesn’t come in until noon.”

Everyone is certified for something these days.

Yam Girl glared at me.

Had I said that out loud? 

Whatever. I didn’t have time for this. I was on my way to a meeting. A meeting for my best friend who’d died days earlier. A meeting to plan her funeral. So I sent back my best death stare.

Bring it, Yam Girl.

Yam Girl went back to abusing the cashier, with a few choice cuss words thrown in, until the bagging man/bouncer came over and asked her to leave. At his arrival, Yam Girl huffed and puffed and went away.

Thank goodness.

Minutes later, I was loaded up and on my way out when I bumped into a woman setting up a small table on the sidewalk. She was handing out chocolate bars and a flyer. She said I was her first for the day.

I took both, secretly pleased that Yam Girl didn’t get any chocolate. (And yes, I do take candy from strangers.)

Once settled in the car with the heat high and the radio on, I heard words like missing planes, DMZ, Ukraine, Crimea, Chinese debt, and war. As each horrible thing was discussed and contemplated, my limbs cramped. And my thoughts went back to Karen, my CP, who’d finally succumbed to her brain tumor.

So much bad news. So much suffering. So much death.

I still had a eulogy to write and her burial dress to choose. No wonder my body felt like I’d been beaten with a baseball bat.

But I couldn’t get Yam Girl out of my mind. Her shrill voice, her snarl when she verbally attacked the cashier, her final sneers. My shoulders tightened, my hands gripped the wheel. Within minutes my molars would be crushed into dust.

I once read that a person speaks only twenty percent of the words that they hear in their own head. So if the words Yam Girl spewed were any indication of what when on inside, I couldn’t imagine the pain she carried around.

I wanted to care. I really did. But she’d been mean and I was late.

A car appeared in front of me. I slammed on the brake and honked the horn. Then I cussed like my teenage nephews. I’d been cut off. By Yam Girl.

Yam Girl gave me a hand signal I’d never use in a manuscript and flew toward the shopping center’s light twenty yards away. She ran the red light and I heard a chorus of horns.

Why am I not surprised?

I took three deep breaths and kept moving. My muffin boxes lay on their sides, dented and abused. My vision blurred, my fingers ached, and I couldn’t stop shaking. As I turned at the light, I saw another one of those signs attached to a street sign. Black letters on white paper.

Joyful Noise. 

How odd. 

It took me twenty minutes to drive four miles. By the time I arrived, I was so wound up I couldn’t get out of the car.

I was still annoyed at Yam Girl. Noises drilled in my head. The cacophony of grief, sadness, anger, impatience, frustration—you name the negative emotion—had moved in and thrown a party.

I’m fairly certain there was a keg.

Except I had to get through the day. I had people counting on me.

The tears I’d held back for days decided to show up.  I was late, with squished muffins and warm OJ, and ugly red cry face. Perfect. I was meeting Karen’s husband, two of her boys, and eight other women from her neighborhood.

How do people do this?

I closed my eyes and focused on what was important, what needed to be done. After a long moment, I opened the generic chocolate bar and rearranged my thoughts. I needed to move on from the difficult emotions of the morning. I didn’t want to go through the day angry and grumpy like Yam Girl.

While I waited a minute to see if there were any side effects (you never know with stranger candy), I read the flyer that came with it. White page and black letters.

Joyful Noise.

I flipped it over. No other identifying information. Was it an ad for a church? An indie band? A new choral group?

The heaviness in my chest lightened and my eyes dried. I didn’t have it completely together, but I’d moved out of the red-faced danger zone. I gathered my things and went inside. But the mystery stayed with me as I went through the meeting, assuring everyone I’d have something to say at the funeral, staying strong when I heard there’d be over two hundred people at the church. 

Three exhausting hours later I headed for my local cafe. I had an hour before kids got home and I ordered a latte. I needed to write something meaningful for the funeral, but that silly flyer haunted me.

Desperate for answers, I showed it to the barista and a few regulars and ended up with a short list of ideas written on a paper napkin.

The snap-crack of the boy’s bat hitting a baseball.

The laughter of a girl growing into a woman.

The skip, skip, skip of a boy throwing stones.

The whoosh-splash of his perfect dive.

The slurp of a preschooler and her ice cream cone.

The pop-fizzzzz of a contraband Coke.

I sat back to drink my latte, still unsure. These sounds were wonderful, they evoked memories and emotions, but they were too literal, too predictable. They were happy sounds. But were they Joyful?

Frustrated, I ordered another latte. I really needed to get back to work.

Suddenly, someone stood in front of me. Yam Girl.

“I was sitting in the corner when you came in,” she said in a low voice. “I want to apologize. I was having a bad morning and took it out on everyone else.”

“It’s okay,” I said feeling tired and weightless and small. “I understand.” And I did. “I hope things are better now.”

She lifted on shoulder. “A friend of mine passed away a few days ago. And I wanted to help do something, to honor her. But I didn’t know her that well and no one really needs me.”

“I’m so sorry.” And I was.

She nodded and picked up the flyer. “You got one of these too. It’s from that new church down the road. Do you know what it means?”

I showed her my list I’d written out on a napkin. “This is a first guess. But I’m not sure if it’s right.”

“It’s not.” She looked away and tucked a hair behind her ear. “The candy woman said Joyful Noise is more than just sounds that bring about smiles, sounds that bring back memories.”

“Then what is it?”

She put the flyer on the table. Gently. “Joyful Noise is the sound the heart makes when you listen to words that reside in the soul instead of the words that come from your head. You know, the negative ones that tell you you’re stupid and such.”

Oh, yeah. I knew. My Internal Critic and I had a very difficult working relationship.

She handed me her napkin. ”Here’s my list. I did feel better after making it. The anger had lifted. I felt . . . free.”

I read slowly, feeling the tension in my shoulders ease, the heaviness in my head lifted.

You are talented.

You are wanted.

You are smart.

You are not alone.

You are loved.

You are strong.

You are brave.

Yam Girl wasn’t a brat. Yam Girl wasn’t mean. Yam Girl was in pain.

But, more importantly, Yam girl was brilliant.

I re-read the list, but it was the last two that kicked up my heart rate and made my hands shake. I found it difficult to say, ”Your friend who died. What was her name?”

“Karen. She was a writer.” Yam Girl waved to the flyer on the table. “I think she would have liked this.”

She would have. “Can I keep your napkin?”

“Sure.” She turned to leave.

“Wait. Please.” I reached for her hand and squeezed. All anger and annoyance had vanished, replaced by a deep gratefulness and that tingly awareness when one has come in contact with an act of fate. “I want to let you know that are helping. That you did honor Karen.”

Her eyes shone with tears. “How?”

I held up her napkin. “You just gave me an idea for her eulogy. Thank you.”

Yam Girl gave me a half-smile and disappeared. But I still held her list of soul-words.

Her list that made the heart sing.

Her list that made Joyful Noise.

Her list that would help me write what Karen wanted me to say.

For the first time in days, I smiled the smile of a woman at peace, a woman who knew what she had to do. The words poured out and I wrote as quickly as I could, capturing every last one. And I knew, if it hadn’t been for Yam Girl, I would never have let go of my anger in time.

If it hadn’t been for Yam Girl, I would never have honored Karen’s family with a eulogy worthy of the woman and writer she’d once been.

If it hadn’t been for Yam Girl, I would never have understood the lesson of Joyful Noise.

Karen passed away on March 4, 2014 and we laid her to rest on March 14, 2014. I know many of you knew her and miss her. I published her eulogy on my blog and am still collecting comments to forward to her family. If you’d like to leave one, here is the link: Be Strong. Be Brave. Be Dauntless.

Now I want to hear from you. How do you honor the words in your heart instead of your head? What is your Joyful Noise?

All photographs courtesy of Sharon Wray and the Johnston Family.