Eve Devon's Blog, page 11
October 20, 2013
Dear Diary, Don't Tell
An "I Love Stationery" Blog Post Very excited to have the fabulous Misty Dietz on my blog today, talking about a certain type of stationery that she absolutely loves. Take it away Misty... As soon as Eve rolled out her blog idea on odes to stationary, I was totally onboard. I’ve loved paper--pretty paper—since forever. This includes a whole desk full-to-bursting of gorgeous thank you notes, delicate
handmade stationary, and dozens of little bags full of lovely confetti that look so fabulous until you’re the one to open the letter and it dumps all over your floor.
I could talk all day about what I love about gorgeous stationary, but today I want to dish on a type of paper that might not get as much
airtime—diaries. Pretty diaries.
Diaries by their very nature harbor secrets. They conjure thoughts of clandestine activities and illicit appetites. I mean, if a particular thought or recounting of events was fit for general consumption it sure as hell wouldn't be written in a private book, right?I kept a variety of lovely bound forms from my pre-teen years into early college, but I didn't call them all diaries. They were my "journals" - as though using that moniker made them more legitimate. Or maybe less juvenile. Oh, how I freakin' loved those pages. The freedom they gave me to pour my heart out without the fear of shame or embarrassment. Writing in them massaged my creativity, strengthened my aptitude for expression, and allowed me a space to burn off some steam.
When I re-read them from a distance now (the one's I didn't throw away, dammit), I find myself simultaneously amused, bemused, and quite frankly, appalled. I tell myself that the angst that often leaps off those pages will help me to understand and empathize with my eleven year old daughter in a few short years. Because don't we forget what it's like to be a teenager suffering from unrequited love? Don't we forget the overwhelming insecurities of being on the outside of a group of whispering girls, or freaking out about the latest acne flare-up when prom is only days away?
Though I'd spend a lot of time in the store selecting just the right one that spoke to me (one of them sported a lovely inked hardcover of "Scream" by Vincent Van Gogh - do you think that one in particular is full of angst? *snort*), my "journals" were more than lovely jackets on a shelf (or tucked under the mattress). They offered me a safe place to express my self-doubt and disappointments, but sometimes I wonder if it's not a sad reflection that I didn't have anyone close enough with whom to share those very thoughts. In my novel COME HELL OR HIGH DESIRE, a hunt for a missing diary not only brings my hero and heroine closer together, but its existence causes my heroine's best friend to wise-crack that someone who keeps a journal obviously doesn't have any of the if-you-re-in-jail-I'm-in-jail type of friends.
Looking back, that was probably true of me in high school. I've always kept my deepest fears and insecurities in a headlock (dude, what an apt analogy), not wanting to burden anyone or be a downer. I'm wired to show people nothing but the happy in me.
Then a man came into my life.
He instinctively knew how to read me, even when I didn't want him to. I haven't written in any form of journal since I met him (unless you count my kids' baby books - which are all gorgeous specimens, albeit a little sketchily filled in). I guess that particular thirst for catharsis went away. When he became my husband, I see that he also became my living diary. A diary...with benefits. :)
So now, I fill my need for lovely paper with linen-bound notepads and ribbon-bedecked magnetic grocery lists. I've traded angst for domesticity, but my love for pretty paper has never gone away.
How about you? Step on up to the mic and share your thoughts on diaries. Have you ever kept one? If so, do you still have it? Is it pretty? Misty
Check out Misty's release Come Hell or High Desire.It's an excellent read and is the cover not completely yummy???
Eve
October 18, 2013
Things That Go Bump In The Night...
So earlier this month I was all "I know, I have a spare couple of hours - why, I think I'll clean my windows!"And the next morning I came downstairs to find this:
"Like a BAT out of hell..." Hopefully you can make out the spookily fascinating yet slightly yucky impression that a bat left after hurling itself full pelt at my beautifully cleaned window!To be able to see the bat's ears, eyes, snout and wings like that... it had to have hit hard. Shocked, I unlocked the back door and went outside, convinced the little fellow would be lying dead on the ground, under the window. Thankfully there was nothing there. Perhaps some other creature of the night had taken it.
The bat must have made quite the sound as it hit the window. Made me kind of glad I'd had the TV turned up for company the night before. Hubby was on a lad's night out and I was on my own.
If I'd heard the sound, would I have felt compelled to investigate? Truthfully, I'd probably have remained inside - desperate to avoid even a whiff of appearing TSTL. Nobody does the 'curiously throwing open the door and stepping out into the black night to investigate a noise' anymore, do they? We've all seen the "Scream" films.
These days (and nights) it's rare to exist in complete silence. But then there's always the witching hour, right? When the streets become quiet and most everybody is in bed. That's when the real silence kicks in, the type of silence that heightens your senses. Making you alert to the tiniest noise. The house settling. The tick of the downstairs clock. The hum of the refrigerator. The deep sleep rhythm breathing from the person you share your bed with. And, please tell me someone else hears this, or I'm going to have to add being tested for special gifts to my To Do list - the drone that electrical sockets emit.
If these base level noises already seem louder and more sinister late at night then there are a few more noises, that if thrown in, are guaranteed to make my heart explode in my chest with fright.
They include, but aren't limited to:
1) The rustling sound of that screwed up piece of paper relaxing in the waste paper basket.
2) The banshee-like scream from a sudden gust of wind whistling down the chimney.
3) The eerie sound of foxes baying.
4) The rattle of my side gate as the neighbourhood tomcat scrambles up and over it.
5) The sound of the bad man whispering nursery-rhymes off key!
Okay, that last one I've not heard in the middle of the night. Well, not since I was a kid, and made the mistake of telling my brother about a scary, scary film I'd seen!!!
What sends your heart into your throat when it goes bump in the night? Leave me a comment at the end of my post and 'like' my facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EveDevonAuthor
At the end of the hop, I'll choose someone from the list to win a $10 Amazon Giftcard :)
And if you would like a thrilling read with a touch of the scare factor this Halloween, then try my Entangled Ignite release: The Waiting Game
Five years ago a madman stalked her. Kidnapped her. Tattooed her.When security expert Cameron Dexter - the man Brooke Bennet once loved - appears unexpectedly at her door with terrifying news, the former musician discovers she can no longer hide from her past. After five years, a vicious kidnapper is out of prison and on the hunt - for Brooke.
Now he's returned to complete his art.
Cam failed to protect Brooke once before.. Now he'd rather die than let her be captured. With her life at stake, Cam vows to keep her hidden and safe. Brooke, however, is done with running. Unlike Cam, she wants to stand and fight. Emotions both old and new roil between them, but addressing their heated past must wait. Together they set a trap in London to catch a killer. But they soon discover the enemy wears many faces...
And waiting is no longer an option. Eve
September 29, 2013
Some Words about Process...
"Writing your next book is a delicious feeling. It's thrilling, sexy, fun and filled with infinite possibility...It is also, plain and simple, the hardest of hard work that is fraught with danger (such are the holes you can dig yourself into and the corners you can back yourself into) with each fresh paragraph. Process is the only thing that saves me from complete carnage." - Eve Devon
I know. I went there. Don't worry - I promise there are quotes from actual famous authors contained herein!
So after writing a few books now I've got my process pretty much down:
Stage 1: Think. Mostly about anything other than my book!
Stage 2: Think harder. This time about my book!
Stage 3: Take the scene in my head that won't let go and start asking myself oodles of "what if" questions about the characters and plot.
Stage 4: Do characterisation charts for my protagonists that include their Goals, Motivation and Conflict (GMC) and get a bit stuck.
Stage 5: Open up a separate GMC document. Decide to clean the entire house instead.
Stage 6: Force myself back to GMC document and immediately come up with over-complicated internal GMC that doesn't fit into external GMC in any way, shape or form!
Stage 7: Realise that if my imagination can come up with such crazy internal and external GMC I must be able to come up with believable ones. Rework chart. Write brief outline.
Stage 8: Break out my Enneagram wheel to double-check the personality of my characters run true.
Stage 9: Spend way too long on the internet 'casting' my characters and looking at pictures of shoes I can't afford!
Stage 10: Choose the perfect notebook to accompany my book, crack open a new word document and begin...
Simples :)
In theory.
In reality, I don't always complete these stages in numerical order, or, indeed, until I'm writing the book.
But once I start typing, this is my life:
"I can't write five words, but that I can change seven" - Dorothy Parker
I find it next to impossible to switch off my internal editor. I battle every day not to make it perfect - to simply get the words down in a dirty draft that I can rework later. But the truth is that at the start, for me, I can't progress to the meat of the story until I have written the first chapters perfectly to include cute-meet, setup, theme stated and inciting incident. I have to have started and locked-in the framework to hang the rest of the story on before I can relax into it.
The next problem I encounter is that I always forget how long this part takes me; which means that I then have a mini heart-attack when I look at my writing schedule for contracted books and realise I'm already behind in my word count. Writing life evolves into an obsession with mathematical formulae where I constantly recalculate how many new words I now need to write each day to hit my deadline.
Somehow I drag myself back from full-blown panic mode to the edge of hysteria so that I can continue re-writing my first chapters over and over until finally, magically, blissfully, my internal editor leaves and I am reminded of this quote:
"Gaze into the fire, into the clouds, and as soon as the inner voices begin to speak, surrender to them. Don't ask first whether it's permitted, or would please your teachers or fathers or some god. You will ruin yourself if you do that." - Hermann Hesse
With the framework laid down and the internal editor gone I am now so embroiled in my story that the inner voices begin to speak their truths unfiltered. This is the part of my process I have to trust will happen. Because when it does, nothing else matters. I don't have time to think about being judged. About writing what others want. Or worry about trying to get it perfect. Once the inner voices start I need to do only two things to avoid ruination, 1) Get over myself, and, 2) Get out of the way of myself.
This is when I get the rest of the story down. Not perfectly. Not prettily. But down. So that I have a beginning a middle and an end. A finished draft that I can set aside while I take a couple of breaths and reconnect with the world, before diving into editing and polishing. The re-writing at the beginning is just me figuring out the reality of the book so that I can let the internal editor go, hear my characters fully immersed in their world, and write their story.
So before I go back to the incessant re-writing of the beginning of my new book, I'd love to hear what your process is? Eve
I know. I went there. Don't worry - I promise there are quotes from actual famous authors contained herein!
So after writing a few books now I've got my process pretty much down:
Stage 1: Think. Mostly about anything other than my book!
Stage 2: Think harder. This time about my book!
Stage 3: Take the scene in my head that won't let go and start asking myself oodles of "what if" questions about the characters and plot.
Stage 4: Do characterisation charts for my protagonists that include their Goals, Motivation and Conflict (GMC) and get a bit stuck.
Stage 5: Open up a separate GMC document. Decide to clean the entire house instead.
Stage 6: Force myself back to GMC document and immediately come up with over-complicated internal GMC that doesn't fit into external GMC in any way, shape or form!
Stage 7: Realise that if my imagination can come up with such crazy internal and external GMC I must be able to come up with believable ones. Rework chart. Write brief outline.
Stage 8: Break out my Enneagram wheel to double-check the personality of my characters run true.
Stage 9: Spend way too long on the internet 'casting' my characters and looking at pictures of shoes I can't afford!
Stage 10: Choose the perfect notebook to accompany my book, crack open a new word document and begin...
Simples :)
In theory.
In reality, I don't always complete these stages in numerical order, or, indeed, until I'm writing the book.
But once I start typing, this is my life:
"I can't write five words, but that I can change seven" - Dorothy Parker
I find it next to impossible to switch off my internal editor. I battle every day not to make it perfect - to simply get the words down in a dirty draft that I can rework later. But the truth is that at the start, for me, I can't progress to the meat of the story until I have written the first chapters perfectly to include cute-meet, setup, theme stated and inciting incident. I have to have started and locked-in the framework to hang the rest of the story on before I can relax into it.
The next problem I encounter is that I always forget how long this part takes me; which means that I then have a mini heart-attack when I look at my writing schedule for contracted books and realise I'm already behind in my word count. Writing life evolves into an obsession with mathematical formulae where I constantly recalculate how many new words I now need to write each day to hit my deadline.
Somehow I drag myself back from full-blown panic mode to the edge of hysteria so that I can continue re-writing my first chapters over and over until finally, magically, blissfully, my internal editor leaves and I am reminded of this quote:
"Gaze into the fire, into the clouds, and as soon as the inner voices begin to speak, surrender to them. Don't ask first whether it's permitted, or would please your teachers or fathers or some god. You will ruin yourself if you do that." - Hermann Hesse
With the framework laid down and the internal editor gone I am now so embroiled in my story that the inner voices begin to speak their truths unfiltered. This is the part of my process I have to trust will happen. Because when it does, nothing else matters. I don't have time to think about being judged. About writing what others want. Or worry about trying to get it perfect. Once the inner voices start I need to do only two things to avoid ruination, 1) Get over myself, and, 2) Get out of the way of myself.
This is when I get the rest of the story down. Not perfectly. Not prettily. But down. So that I have a beginning a middle and an end. A finished draft that I can set aside while I take a couple of breaths and reconnect with the world, before diving into editing and polishing. The re-writing at the beginning is just me figuring out the reality of the book so that I can let the internal editor go, hear my characters fully immersed in their world, and write their story.
So before I go back to the incessant re-writing of the beginning of my new book, I'd love to hear what your process is? Eve
September 9, 2013
"A Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils..."
I love the start of the new school year and it has nothing to do with the end of six weeks of kids letting off steam in the loudest ways imaginable and everything to do with this quote from a certain bookstore owner:
"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I new your name and address..."
The quote comes from Joe Fox in my favourite feel-good romcom "You've Got Mail", and captures everything I love about autumn just before the schools go back.
This is the time of year where shops very kindly and very prominently display their stationery for sale. Even better--for "For Sale" read "On Sale"! Readers, I love them for it! Because:
Stationery is just so deliciously useful. And the stationery that isn't useful is almost always beautiful. Naturally, I love it best when it's both useful and beautiful! My stationery compulsion doesn't stop at pen and paper. Oh no. My stationery habit runs the full gamut. I'm talking way beyond post-its. I'm admitting to bull-dog clips, paperclips and drawing pins. Sticky dots and highlighter tabs. Matching box files, files and folders. Subject dividers and punched plastic wallets. Pen pots and paper trays.
Possibly my stationery habit stems from a need for perfection! If I have the right sized index cards my notes will surely be precise. Precise says: job done with minimum fuss. Precise says: succinct. Something I most certainly am not! But with those perfectly sized index cards maybe I can be--maybe I will be!
I'm going a tad psychoanalyst but I also think brand new stationery--particularly a new notebook with its crisp clean pages, represents possibility!
Possibility when you're writing is incredibly important.
When faced with pristine paper, don't you automatically want to mark it with a few words? Compose something and mark the paper to say you were there?
Speaking of the beauty of notebooks ;) From the first time I saw Agatha Christie's plotting notebooks I have been addicted to keeping one for each book I write.
Notebooks allow me to jot down bits of dialogue that floats into my head when I'm waiting in traffic or standing in line. Notebooks mean I'm not going to forget the scene that pops into my head in the middle of the night in between bouts of worrying that I'm still awake and need to get up in a couple of hours!
Yep, I love this time of year with its collections of stationery stacked high on shelves and waiting patiently for someone like me to come along and scoop them up! Stationery that matches. Stationery that doesn't. It's all available.
I pinky swear it's not just me who has an over-developed fondness for stationery! Authors all over the globe share my addiction. To prove it, once a month, some of my fellow author friends are going to pop on here and tell you their stationery tales. They'll either do a "What's in your stationery drawer" guest post. Or, they'll do a "From the Notebook" guest spot and show off some of the notes they've made when writing a book.
In the meantime, how about you? Do you have a stationery vice you'd like to share? Or is there someone you'd love to send a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils to? Let me know by leaving a comment :) Eve
"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I new your name and address..."
The quote comes from Joe Fox in my favourite feel-good romcom "You've Got Mail", and captures everything I love about autumn just before the schools go back.
This is the time of year where shops very kindly and very prominently display their stationery for sale. Even better--for "For Sale" read "On Sale"! Readers, I love them for it! Because:
Stationery is just so deliciously useful. And the stationery that isn't useful is almost always beautiful. Naturally, I love it best when it's both useful and beautiful! My stationery compulsion doesn't stop at pen and paper. Oh no. My stationery habit runs the full gamut. I'm talking way beyond post-its. I'm admitting to bull-dog clips, paperclips and drawing pins. Sticky dots and highlighter tabs. Matching box files, files and folders. Subject dividers and punched plastic wallets. Pen pots and paper trays.Possibly my stationery habit stems from a need for perfection! If I have the right sized index cards my notes will surely be precise. Precise says: job done with minimum fuss. Precise says: succinct. Something I most certainly am not! But with those perfectly sized index cards maybe I can be--maybe I will be!
I'm going a tad psychoanalyst but I also think brand new stationery--particularly a new notebook with its crisp clean pages, represents possibility!
Possibility when you're writing is incredibly important.
When faced with pristine paper, don't you automatically want to mark it with a few words? Compose something and mark the paper to say you were there?
Speaking of the beauty of notebooks ;) From the first time I saw Agatha Christie's plotting notebooks I have been addicted to keeping one for each book I write.
Notebooks allow me to jot down bits of dialogue that floats into my head when I'm waiting in traffic or standing in line. Notebooks mean I'm not going to forget the scene that pops into my head in the middle of the night in between bouts of worrying that I'm still awake and need to get up in a couple of hours!Yep, I love this time of year with its collections of stationery stacked high on shelves and waiting patiently for someone like me to come along and scoop them up! Stationery that matches. Stationery that doesn't. It's all available.
I pinky swear it's not just me who has an over-developed fondness for stationery! Authors all over the globe share my addiction. To prove it, once a month, some of my fellow author friends are going to pop on here and tell you their stationery tales. They'll either do a "What's in your stationery drawer" guest post. Or, they'll do a "From the Notebook" guest spot and show off some of the notes they've made when writing a book.
In the meantime, how about you? Do you have a stationery vice you'd like to share? Or is there someone you'd love to send a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils to? Let me know by leaving a comment :) Eve
August 21, 2013
Cuppa at the ready...let's chat!
Squee! Writerly Peeps, this one is for you...
I was thrilled to be invited to give an author craft chat at this year's:
Savvy Authors Summer Symposium!
Click on the picture below to see all the incredible writing sprints, brainstorming sessions, author chats, workshops and pitch sessions that are in the line-up this year. And if that's not enough to tempt you, there are some fabulous prizes as well.
My chat is scheduled for Saturday 24th August 2013 3pm EDT (8pm GMT) and I would absolutely love to see you there!
So don't be shy - if you're looking for a place to hone your writing skills, learn more about the industry and unleash your writing potential, pop on over, register, and join in the fun. Eve
I was thrilled to be invited to give an author craft chat at this year's:
Savvy Authors Summer Symposium!
Click on the picture below to see all the incredible writing sprints, brainstorming sessions, author chats, workshops and pitch sessions that are in the line-up this year. And if that's not enough to tempt you, there are some fabulous prizes as well.
My chat is scheduled for Saturday 24th August 2013 3pm EDT (8pm GMT) and I would absolutely love to see you there! So don't be shy - if you're looking for a place to hone your writing skills, learn more about the industry and unleash your writing potential, pop on over, register, and join in the fun. Eve
August 8, 2013
Mystery Men of Ignite...Revealed!
So it's my turn to reveal my fave body part of my hero Cameron Dexter and give a clue as to the real-life inspiration for him!When I was imagining Cam Dexter for The Waiting Game I imagined a guy who was the self-assured, intense, get-it-done type! A man who had progressed from raw talent and confidence in his job as Head of Security for Nocturne's world tour five years earlier, to now running his own security consultancy, in charge of people, in charge of resolving dangerous situations - in charge, period.
He was the kind of guy that breathed authority and handled stress with ease. The guy you knew absolutely would get you out of any given situation because he didn't just play at keeping you safe. He took it seriously. He took it really seriously. Because he'd witnessed damage done and taken the guilt of it all the way deep inside of him. He knew what could happen if he didn't keep you safe. That failure had cost him. Worse, it had cost the person he cared most about dearly - and then cost him that person.
Not that he'd let the experience beat him - that's not who he is! But if you dared to look close enough - if he let you get close enough to see into those sexy blue eyes - you would see the anguish of a guilt that cut deep, emotion at war with logic, a burning need to redeem himself of past mistakes, and absolute passion for justice. And if your name happened to be Brooke Bennet, all these looks would come with flashes of barely contained heat. Heat so hot you'd wonder how blue could ever be considered cold!
Whether his eyes were cool and assessing or hot and undressing...it was all about the eyes with Cameron Dexter!
Ever noticed how an alpha male has no trouble initiating and maintaining eye contact? How he never drops eye contact first! How his eyes can speak volumes! Delicious!
There was a real-life person who inspired me when I was writing Cameron. And his eyes just happen to be blue. And piercing. And because he's an actor they can also be cool and assessing or hot and undressing!
CLUE: He's gone from being a good neighbour to a castle via Spartacus.
Come along to our Entangled Ignite FB event tonight: Aug 8th 7-9 EST for the big reveal and join in the fun.
I'm so excited about the event that I'm giving away this little combo: One of my beaded bookmarks for The Waiting Game and a $10 Amazon Giftcard :)And that's not all - come talk Mystery Men Heroes with us and be in with a chance of winning a GRAND PRIZE of a $100 Amazon GC from Entangled Publishing - Ignite. Eve
August 5, 2013
Join in the fun!
Ignite is the new name for Entangled Publishing's suspense imprint.To celebrate we're inviting you to a fab, fun, FB Event. Click on the invite above to see the details.
But that's not all! During the lead up to the event you will get to read a post from an Ignite Author on their website about the hero of their current Ignite release. Each post will focus on their favourite heroes body part (what's not to love about that!) Prepare yourself from some scorchio posts! We'll also post a clue as to who the famous person is that inspired us to write our heroes!
Follow the websites and work out the clues and then come along to our FB event where we will reveal our inspirations. We haz prizes!!!
I will add the author links to websites each day (mine will be on Thursday).
MONDAY's Mystery Men of Ignite...Revealed!
Kay David
Stephanie Feagan
August 1, 2013
I'm Not Nosey...
My grandmother-in-law had this fabulous saying: I'm not nosey, I'm just interested.
The first time I ever heard her say those words I knew I'd met a kindred spirit. I hold her words dear because I've been "interested" in just about pretty much everything, for as long as I can remember! From checking out what's going on all around me to dipping into facts and stats, what's not to like about finding stuff out?
Of course now, with my writing, I get to take her words and add "it's for research" into the mix. I like to think she'd have had a chuckle about me taking "just interested" to a whole new level! She would have enjoyed that I get to watch all these action films, the latest romcom, the new zombie flick. Read books and articles by the dozen on every subject imaginable. Look around mansions and luxury apartments. Try on that jewellery at Tiffany's. Test-drive that car. Stay in glamorous hotels, and eat in fabulous restaurants...All in the name of research!
And she'd have thought it my absolute duty to carry out the most important part of research. That part which is totally legitimate, completely addictive and overwhelmingly fascinating if you're a writer: People Watching.
Marrying the art of people watching with research into the worlds you're creating helps you round out your characters. It's never about writing about one specific person, but, rather, it's more about observing the world around you and gaining experience into the myriad ways people behave. To be honest, more often than not, I will look something up, watch a TV programme, or read something and only retain about a quarter of the information. But what I do tend to remember (and what's great when it comes to writing) is the emotional impact of what I learn.
Hot lazy summer days are perfect for stopping at a street café, or sitting on that park bench, or lying on a beach, and watching the world go by. And remember. You're not being nosey. You're just being interested!
For the little bit of the nosey, sorry, "interested" in everyone ;-) here is a list, in no particular order, of the things I've been researching lately...
Motorbikes Sheet Glass Catacombs Personal Protection/Close Protection Services R & D Workflow Charts Vintage Clothing Film-making Reasons For Quashing a Conviction How to Present Evidence in Court Tattoos, Laser Treatment for Tattoo Removal and Skin Graphs Burlesque Dancing Short-Haul Private Jets Art Equipment 1930's Chateauroux, France Victorian and Edwardian Mansions Event Security Paparazzi Narcissistic Personality Disorder Great Exhibition of London 1851 Apartments on the River Thames Commercial Property Acquisition Automata Champagne, Whiskey/Whisky/Bourbon and Retrograde Amnesia
Can you imagine if this was all for one book!! What subjects fascinate you and makes you want to know more? Eve
The first time I ever heard her say those words I knew I'd met a kindred spirit. I hold her words dear because I've been "interested" in just about pretty much everything, for as long as I can remember! From checking out what's going on all around me to dipping into facts and stats, what's not to like about finding stuff out?
Of course now, with my writing, I get to take her words and add "it's for research" into the mix. I like to think she'd have had a chuckle about me taking "just interested" to a whole new level! She would have enjoyed that I get to watch all these action films, the latest romcom, the new zombie flick. Read books and articles by the dozen on every subject imaginable. Look around mansions and luxury apartments. Try on that jewellery at Tiffany's. Test-drive that car. Stay in glamorous hotels, and eat in fabulous restaurants...All in the name of research!
And she'd have thought it my absolute duty to carry out the most important part of research. That part which is totally legitimate, completely addictive and overwhelmingly fascinating if you're a writer: People Watching.
Marrying the art of people watching with research into the worlds you're creating helps you round out your characters. It's never about writing about one specific person, but, rather, it's more about observing the world around you and gaining experience into the myriad ways people behave. To be honest, more often than not, I will look something up, watch a TV programme, or read something and only retain about a quarter of the information. But what I do tend to remember (and what's great when it comes to writing) is the emotional impact of what I learn.
Hot lazy summer days are perfect for stopping at a street café, or sitting on that park bench, or lying on a beach, and watching the world go by. And remember. You're not being nosey. You're just being interested!
For the little bit of the nosey, sorry, "interested" in everyone ;-) here is a list, in no particular order, of the things I've been researching lately...
Motorbikes Sheet Glass Catacombs Personal Protection/Close Protection Services R & D Workflow Charts Vintage Clothing Film-making Reasons For Quashing a Conviction How to Present Evidence in Court Tattoos, Laser Treatment for Tattoo Removal and Skin Graphs Burlesque Dancing Short-Haul Private Jets Art Equipment 1930's Chateauroux, France Victorian and Edwardian Mansions Event Security Paparazzi Narcissistic Personality Disorder Great Exhibition of London 1851 Apartments on the River Thames Commercial Property Acquisition Automata Champagne, Whiskey/Whisky/Bourbon and Retrograde Amnesia
Can you imagine if this was all for one book!! What subjects fascinate you and makes you want to know more? Eve
July 14, 2013
The Challenge!
So I took myself off on a little holiday. Actually, my incredibly thoughtful husband took me away on a holiday. There was only one catch. Along with the tickets came a challenge that he just knew I would rise to, damn it!
The challenge was that I had to go off-grid for the week.
I'll admit there was a small hesitation on my part before the challenge button realised it had well and truly been pressed and I was all: "Oh, it is on!"
But I wasn't going to enter into the unknown meekly. No siree. I came straight back with, "But let's make it really interesting...We BOTH go off-grid AND neither of us brings ANY work."
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down and I held back the small smile of victory. I'd won before I'd even opened my notebook containing my holiday reading lists. The nerves at being electronically disconnected from the world were going to be short-lived. Phew!
Did I happen to mention my husband is extremely good at analysing a prospective challenge and coming up with odds as to his success before us mere mortals can usually comprehend what we've just agreed to? Yep, one nervous swallow...and then the grin spread across his face.
Challenge accepted.
Packing for holiday, my friend Angst made her first appearance--and not just because I'd left packing until the last minute. What was I doing going on holiday? Was I insane? What if my publisher needed to get in contact with me? What if I received an email offering me a ten book contract, but the offer depended on my answering straight away? What if I lost all my followers on Twitter and Facebook on account of me going AWOL?
And why the hell had I upped the ante and said we wouldn't take any work? For the last five years going on holiday actually meant guaranteed writing time. I glanced uncertainly at my husband. Naturally, being a man, he'd deliberately left packing until the last minute. And, naturally, being a man, he wasn't wasting precious time second-guessing every outfit or lamenting the lack of a capsule wardrobe. Jeans. Shorts. T-Shirts. Shirts. Couple of smarter outfits. Two pairs of shoes. Washkit. Kindle. Done.
I looked down at the space where my laptop would normally go and debated adding a couple more pairs of shoes. Angst sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs in glee.
"I suppose you'll want to check my case for contraband," I said to my husband.
I received back: The Look.
I started muttering under my breath, risked another look at him, only to find The Look had morphed into The Grin.
I could feel myself approaching full-on Drama Queen mode.
I had done this to myself.
He'd issued one teeny tiny challenge and I'd just had to go and make it bigger. And now I was about to go on my first holiday in five years without any writing. How would I enjoy my holiday if the cold turkey effect reduced me to Worst Person to go on Holiday With Ever. Now I worried I was going to ruin the entire break. And neither of us deserved that because we'd both been working like demons for the past few months. We needed the break. We deserved the break. We needed for me to show Drama Queen the door and usher in Perspective.
As we left to go on holiday my husband passed me a notebook and pen. "Here," he said, "just in case, you know, Armageddon hits and we're put under curfew or something."
I clutched the notebook to my chest, feeling a huge smile spread across my face. "If that happens, won't we be busy fighting zombies and saving the world?"
"Definitely, we will. But you might want to write some of it down if we do."
Readers...this is just one of the reasons why I married him!
We had the most fabulous holiday. And I didn't open my notebook once. And I didn't feel guilty once.
Having your first book published is exciting, amazing, wonderful and really quite emotionally overwhelming. The work level ups considerably and when you can--you will need to take that break.
Since I've been home I've spoken to several people who are going all retro on vacation and making like its 1985--before all this stuff was invented to keep us connected and available twenty-four seven. Word is: It's okay to step away for a while. Eve
The challenge was that I had to go off-grid for the week.
I'll admit there was a small hesitation on my part before the challenge button realised it had well and truly been pressed and I was all: "Oh, it is on!"
But I wasn't going to enter into the unknown meekly. No siree. I came straight back with, "But let's make it really interesting...We BOTH go off-grid AND neither of us brings ANY work."
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down and I held back the small smile of victory. I'd won before I'd even opened my notebook containing my holiday reading lists. The nerves at being electronically disconnected from the world were going to be short-lived. Phew!
Did I happen to mention my husband is extremely good at analysing a prospective challenge and coming up with odds as to his success before us mere mortals can usually comprehend what we've just agreed to? Yep, one nervous swallow...and then the grin spread across his face.
Challenge accepted.
Packing for holiday, my friend Angst made her first appearance--and not just because I'd left packing until the last minute. What was I doing going on holiday? Was I insane? What if my publisher needed to get in contact with me? What if I received an email offering me a ten book contract, but the offer depended on my answering straight away? What if I lost all my followers on Twitter and Facebook on account of me going AWOL?
And why the hell had I upped the ante and said we wouldn't take any work? For the last five years going on holiday actually meant guaranteed writing time. I glanced uncertainly at my husband. Naturally, being a man, he'd deliberately left packing until the last minute. And, naturally, being a man, he wasn't wasting precious time second-guessing every outfit or lamenting the lack of a capsule wardrobe. Jeans. Shorts. T-Shirts. Shirts. Couple of smarter outfits. Two pairs of shoes. Washkit. Kindle. Done.
I looked down at the space where my laptop would normally go and debated adding a couple more pairs of shoes. Angst sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs in glee.
"I suppose you'll want to check my case for contraband," I said to my husband.
I received back: The Look.
I started muttering under my breath, risked another look at him, only to find The Look had morphed into The Grin.
I could feel myself approaching full-on Drama Queen mode.
I had done this to myself.
He'd issued one teeny tiny challenge and I'd just had to go and make it bigger. And now I was about to go on my first holiday in five years without any writing. How would I enjoy my holiday if the cold turkey effect reduced me to Worst Person to go on Holiday With Ever. Now I worried I was going to ruin the entire break. And neither of us deserved that because we'd both been working like demons for the past few months. We needed the break. We deserved the break. We needed for me to show Drama Queen the door and usher in Perspective.
As we left to go on holiday my husband passed me a notebook and pen. "Here," he said, "just in case, you know, Armageddon hits and we're put under curfew or something."
I clutched the notebook to my chest, feeling a huge smile spread across my face. "If that happens, won't we be busy fighting zombies and saving the world?"
"Definitely, we will. But you might want to write some of it down if we do."
Readers...this is just one of the reasons why I married him!
We had the most fabulous holiday. And I didn't open my notebook once. And I didn't feel guilty once.
Having your first book published is exciting, amazing, wonderful and really quite emotionally overwhelming. The work level ups considerably and when you can--you will need to take that break.
Since I've been home I've spoken to several people who are going all retro on vacation and making like its 1985--before all this stuff was invented to keep us connected and available twenty-four seven. Word is: It's okay to step away for a while. Eve
June 21, 2013
Location, Location
Please welcome my fellow fabulous Entangled Suspense author Cathy Perkins to the blog today. She's going to talk about the locations in her book For Love or Money.
Take it away Cathy...
Location, Location
I've always had a strong sense of place. Maybe it came from growing up in the South, or maybe it was all the historic sites my parents dragged us to. Either way, in spite of a number of career-related moves, I was deeply rooted in Southern soil.
That intimate familiarity with South Carolina showed up in my first two books, not just in what the characters saw (smelled, touched, heard...) but also how they reacted to their surroundings. More than one person told me the setting became another character in the story.
How does that happen?
Every story takes place somewhere, but how central the setting is to the tale depends primarily on the author's voice - the unique way the author tells a particular story. Some of my favorite authors excel at using setting in the plot. The Four Corners and Navaho culture are so central to Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn series those books couldn't have occurred anywhere else. Long before we moved to Washington state, Ridley Pearson's Lou Boldt series made me familiar with Seattle.
When my husband's job transplanted us to Washington, it was inevitable that I'd write stories set here. The split personality of the state intrigued me. In For Love or Money, I knew my heroine, Holly Price, would be a big city woman. Thriving on the high risk, high rewards aspect of corporate transactions, she doesn't mind the pressure or the long hours. This is the view from her downtown office, Seattle's iconic Space Needle.
From Seattle's leafy neighborhoods to the sweeping grandeur of the surrounding mountains, Washington fully deserves its Green State designation. The towering Cascades wring moisture from the clouds that sweep in from the Pacific Ocean. The perpetual rain, however, plays into the insular nature of Seattlites - the classic look is head tilted downwards under a hooded jacket, cable snaking from earbuds to a hidden inner pocket, no eye contact even without an always present smartphone poised to keep the world at bay. Holly blamed her stunted social life on a lack of time and hesitation to become too intimate with anyone in her circle of acquaintances. They might be on the other side of the negotiating table on the next corporate transaction she worked. And they wouldn't think twice about using personal information in an attempt to manipulate her.
Like many people in Seattle, Holly grew up in another part of Washington. Her high school years were spent in Richland, WA, a midsize city built by the government during World War II as part of the secret, Manhattan nuclear project. Just the fact that the feds choice this area should tell you something about the remote location! East of the Cascades, the terrain is high desert: sage brush, tumbleweeds, endless blue sky and bright sunshine.
Richland sits at convergence of three rivers: the raging Snake (remember the Oregon Trail game? Don't float the Snake in your covered wagon.), mighty Columbia and meandering Yakima rivers. The stark black rocks lining the Snake and Columbia rivers contrast with all that water. My inspiration for the book came during a hike along the Snake. While pushing through the tangled foliage at the base of one of those cliffs, I glanced over my shoulder, grinned and being the suspense writer that I am, said "Wouldn't this make a great place to find a body?" Once you're back in town, the setting becomes much tamer. Due to the magic of irrigation and a perfect growing season, the Eastside is home to orchards, vineyards and world-class wineries. Not what you think of as Washington state, right?
Both Holly and I seem to be settling into our new homes. Stay tuned for more of Holly's adventures in the wilds of the Eastside.
Cathy Perkins is a member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She writes predominantly financial-based mysteries but enjoys the relationship aspect of her characters' lives. Her suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned firsthand the camouflage, hide in plain sight, skills employed by her villains.
Born and raised in South Carolina, the setting for HONOR CODE and THE PROFESSOR, she now lives in Washington. FOR LOVE OF MONEY's setting, with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deed herd.
Visit Cathy at her website: www.cperkinswrites.com
About For Love or Money:
When Holly Price trips over a friend's dead body while hiking, her life takes a nosedive into a world of intrigue and danger. The verdict is murder - and Holly is the prime suspect. Of course, the fact that the infinitely sexy - and very pissed off - cop threatening to arrest her is JC Dimitrak, who just happens to be Holly's jilted ex-fiance, doesn't help matters.
To protect her future, her business...and her heart...the intrepid forensic accountant must use all her considerable investigative skills to follow the money through an intricate web of shadow companies, while staying one step ahead of her ex-fiance. She better solve the case before the real killer decides CPA stands for Certified Pain in the Ass...and the next dead body found beside the river is Holly's.
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other online retailers.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/ZSlFLL
B & N: http://bit.ly/13GYc01
KOBO: http://bit.ly/11oh9rk
Entangled: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/for-love-or-money/
Take it away Cathy...
Location, Location
I've always had a strong sense of place. Maybe it came from growing up in the South, or maybe it was all the historic sites my parents dragged us to. Either way, in spite of a number of career-related moves, I was deeply rooted in Southern soil.
That intimate familiarity with South Carolina showed up in my first two books, not just in what the characters saw (smelled, touched, heard...) but also how they reacted to their surroundings. More than one person told me the setting became another character in the story.
How does that happen?
Every story takes place somewhere, but how central the setting is to the tale depends primarily on the author's voice - the unique way the author tells a particular story. Some of my favorite authors excel at using setting in the plot. The Four Corners and Navaho culture are so central to Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn series those books couldn't have occurred anywhere else. Long before we moved to Washington state, Ridley Pearson's Lou Boldt series made me familiar with Seattle.
When my husband's job transplanted us to Washington, it was inevitable that I'd write stories set here. The split personality of the state intrigued me. In For Love or Money, I knew my heroine, Holly Price, would be a big city woman. Thriving on the high risk, high rewards aspect of corporate transactions, she doesn't mind the pressure or the long hours. This is the view from her downtown office, Seattle's iconic Space Needle.
From Seattle's leafy neighborhoods to the sweeping grandeur of the surrounding mountains, Washington fully deserves its Green State designation. The towering Cascades wring moisture from the clouds that sweep in from the Pacific Ocean. The perpetual rain, however, plays into the insular nature of Seattlites - the classic look is head tilted downwards under a hooded jacket, cable snaking from earbuds to a hidden inner pocket, no eye contact even without an always present smartphone poised to keep the world at bay. Holly blamed her stunted social life on a lack of time and hesitation to become too intimate with anyone in her circle of acquaintances. They might be on the other side of the negotiating table on the next corporate transaction she worked. And they wouldn't think twice about using personal information in an attempt to manipulate her.
Like many people in Seattle, Holly grew up in another part of Washington. Her high school years were spent in Richland, WA, a midsize city built by the government during World War II as part of the secret, Manhattan nuclear project. Just the fact that the feds choice this area should tell you something about the remote location! East of the Cascades, the terrain is high desert: sage brush, tumbleweeds, endless blue sky and bright sunshine.
Richland sits at convergence of three rivers: the raging Snake (remember the Oregon Trail game? Don't float the Snake in your covered wagon.), mighty Columbia and meandering Yakima rivers. The stark black rocks lining the Snake and Columbia rivers contrast with all that water. My inspiration for the book came during a hike along the Snake. While pushing through the tangled foliage at the base of one of those cliffs, I glanced over my shoulder, grinned and being the suspense writer that I am, said "Wouldn't this make a great place to find a body?" Once you're back in town, the setting becomes much tamer. Due to the magic of irrigation and a perfect growing season, the Eastside is home to orchards, vineyards and world-class wineries. Not what you think of as Washington state, right?Both Holly and I seem to be settling into our new homes. Stay tuned for more of Holly's adventures in the wilds of the Eastside.
Cathy Perkins is a member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She writes predominantly financial-based mysteries but enjoys the relationship aspect of her characters' lives. Her suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned firsthand the camouflage, hide in plain sight, skills employed by her villains.Born and raised in South Carolina, the setting for HONOR CODE and THE PROFESSOR, she now lives in Washington. FOR LOVE OF MONEY's setting, with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deed herd.
Visit Cathy at her website: www.cperkinswrites.com
About For Love or Money:When Holly Price trips over a friend's dead body while hiking, her life takes a nosedive into a world of intrigue and danger. The verdict is murder - and Holly is the prime suspect. Of course, the fact that the infinitely sexy - and very pissed off - cop threatening to arrest her is JC Dimitrak, who just happens to be Holly's jilted ex-fiance, doesn't help matters.
To protect her future, her business...and her heart...the intrepid forensic accountant must use all her considerable investigative skills to follow the money through an intricate web of shadow companies, while staying one step ahead of her ex-fiance. She better solve the case before the real killer decides CPA stands for Certified Pain in the Ass...and the next dead body found beside the river is Holly's.
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other online retailers.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/ZSlFLL
B & N: http://bit.ly/13GYc01
KOBO: http://bit.ly/11oh9rk
Entangled: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/for-love-or-money/
