Victoria Barbour's Blog, page 5

Romance Weekly: November 11, 2014

Photo courtesy of http://papermonicle.deviantart.com/ar...

Before I begin today I just wanted to take a minute to remember in the blogiverse the sacrifice of so many men and women who have given their lives, their health (physical and mental), their courage and their time to keeping us safe. Thank you. 

This week we're back to the good old three questions, and we have Eden Ashe to thank for it. Without further fanfare, let's get down to it. 

1. How much free reign do you give your characters during a story?

As much as needed to get the story out there. Mind you, I do have a pretty solid idea of who the main characters are so they don't get up to too much trouble in my head. 

2. Have your characters ever done something so out of the blue that not only changed your story, but changed the tone and maybe even the genre you were originally going for? (Like your contemporary romance turned into a spicy paranormal)

Not yet. I'm a pantser writer for sure, but a lot of the story already exists in my head. I know what has to happen, it's what goes on in the middle that can be surprising. Still, I think I keep my head pretty nailed in my genre so it doesn't get out of hand. 

3. Do you have one character in your head that is sort of boss over all the rest? Or do you decide who to work on and when?

I write the story from start to finish, and often the only points of view I use are the hero and heroine. Or in the case of my Forever Geek trilogy, just Jillian. I'm the boss of them all. 

Short answers this week, but sadly, I guess I keep too tight a reign on everyone to have any big secrets to spill. The only time a character went in a different direction for me was Asher during his first appearances in Against Her Rules. Look how that turned out. He became hero of his very own book (21st Century Rake!)

So let's hop on over to the ever-fun Christy Carlyle and see if she's the boss of her characters. 

 

Cover Reveal: Geek Groom

Sometimes I need a swift kick in the pants to get something finished. Such is the case with Geek Groom. It's nearly finished. So what better way to ensure that I get it done than to show off the cover, and promise you that it will be available before the end of the month. 

I know. I"m nothing if not silly.

I wish I had a blurb to share with you, but alas, I'm too busy writing the book to write about the book. Instead, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite quotes with you.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, this is the continuation of Jillian and Evan's story that I started with Geek God. 

Finally, a huge thanks to my bestie, Crystal McLellan, for not only designing yet another amazing cover for me, but for letting me hang out with her in her studio while she did the photoshoot. The rings are hers. The dice are mine.

I hope you enjoy!

“When I was a little girl there were a lot of things I imagined I’d be doing in the months leading up to my wedding. Going for a mani-pedi. Check. Trying on a million gowns. Check. Choosing a china pattern. Check. Groping the hairy legs of what I hope are men while trying to determine which one is my clearly up-for-anything groom. Nope. That was most certainly not on the list. ”

— Jillian Carew, Geek Groom

“My love, your family would have to be pretty bad to stop me from wanting to spend the rest of my life with you. Like, lich-king bad. Demon-spawn bad. And even then, I could be swayed to the dark side because you’re a pretty fine temptress.”

— Evan Sharp, Geek Groom

“I know, girls. I know all too well that feeling that hits you in the stomach the first time you lay eyes on him. It doesn’t go away. Sometimes he’ll be putting milk in the fridge and I’ll look at the way his shirt pulls taut across his back. It’s swoon-worthy. But nothing, not his arms, his face, his hair—not even his ass—is as remarkable as the man he is inside. And he’s all mine.”

— Jillian, Geek Groom

Welcome to Historical Wednesday!

Curtain backdrop courtesy of eveyd.deviantart.com.

I'm so excited to start this new weekly blog. Each week I'll feature a historical fiction author or historian (if I can convince them to come play with us) to share some historical tidbits. 

In case you didn't know, I have an honours BA in History with a minor in Newfoundland Studies. I'm also one thesis away from a Master's degree in History, specifically 19th century gender history with a focus on Newfoundland and England. I'm also about to jump back into finishing the Regency romance that got me blogging so very long ago. (Check out my very first blog post here!)

I thought long and hard about what topic I'd kick off this blog feature with. I mean, I could write about regency England, but I figure I'll have enough regency experts on here that I'll leave that to them. Instead, I'm going to talk about Newfoundland.

Today's topic: The Winter of the Rals, 1817-18

It being November, it's a grand time to jump back into that regency of mine, that has our heroine's father dragging her kicking and screaming out of St. John's, Newfoundland and back home to the motherland. While our dear heroine might not appreciate the forced evacuation, it was a prudent move on her father's part. For that November, in 1817, was the start of what's gone down in our history as The Winter of the Rals (rowdies!). 

St. John's was a town built on the rocky slopes of the hills of Newfoundland and it has been consumed by fire many a time. In 1817 a fire swept though a large portion of the town, destroying nearly 300 homes, plus the all important merchant stores and wharves. More devastatingly, it left  around 2000 people homeless for the oncoming winter. You can see from this sketch, from around 1830, that the town was made of mostly wood. 

Needless to say, the place was a state. The loss of housing was made worse by the terrible winter that followed. What followed was a winter of famine, crime and pure destitution. Even Vice-Admiral Francis Pickmore, the appointed governor of the colony at the time, succumbed to the Winter of the Rals and died in February of 1818. 

A grand jury was appointed shortly after to find ways to prevent another such winter, one where 

"Gangs of half-famished lawless men everywhere threatened the destruction of life and property."

This is a crisis that drives my heroine to England, although she departed just after the fires and before things went from bad to worse.

“...famine, frost, and fire combined, like three avenging furies, to scourge the unfortunate Island.”

— D.W Prowse, A History of Newfoundland

It was a crucial period in our history, one which sent many immigrants on to the mainland of North America. Only the hardy, the desperate, and those truly invested in this place remained. Those that stayed by choice, and indeed, those that stayed by necessity, helped form the world that my heroine returns to. 

Please don't let this doom and gloom cloud your notions of my regency series. While I can't ignore the Winter of the Rals and its aftermath, my story will speak to the resilience of those English, Irish and Scots who would become Newfoundlanders. 

 

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Romance Weekly: November 4, 2014

This week we're talking boyfriends. Specifically, those men we've met on the page that refuse to leave our heads and perhaps fulfill some sort of fantasy for us. 'Tis a hard task, let me tell you, because there are many many characters out there that I've read and fallen for. Narrowing it down to just three (curse you Sarah Hegger for this week's challenge!) was a chore. But here we go. 

Sebastian Grey from Julia Quinn's Ten Things I Love About You. 

I fell for this guy in a different Quinn book, What Happens in London, and was so happy he gt his own tale. What makes Sebastian my ideal boyfriend? Hmmm. Where to begin? He's funny, he's a writer, he's romantic, he knows how to treat a lady. Sure he has some issues, but the real allure of this character to me is that he is a genuine good guy who's had some set backs in life. 

  Ponyboy Curtis from S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders

Okay. So today Ponyboy wouldn't be my top choice, but for most of my teen years, I adored this book, and the movie. Yes. I did see the movie first. And then my crush was on Matt Dillon's Dallas Winston. But it was the early 80s and it was Matt Dillon. Come on! However, I've always been a reader, so I rushed out, found my own copy of the book, and promptly fell in love with Ponyboy. The first person narrative helped me get into this "bad boy with a heart of gold"'s head. It also, I think, is responsible for an unhealthy teenage obsession with batboys. But that's another post. "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." 

  














Lucivar Yaslana from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series

This was a difficult one for me. There are some terrible things about Lucivar, and yet, the entire time I was reading this series, he's the character that I found the most compelling. Trust me when I say he crept into more than one of my dreams at night. This is a dark fantasy series, where demons and witches are the good guys. He's not the main character, but he's one of the stronger supporting characters and I just love him. He's dark, sexual, brooding, quick to anger, a fierce fighter, and yet can be so gentle. LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM! 

 

 

 

So there you have my choices. Now pop over and see the scrumptious images Rhenna Morgan has paired with her hot choices! 

 

Romance Writers Weekly: October 28, 2014

This week we are telling ghost stories, real or true. And boy, do I have a tale for you. We were instructed to keep it to under 300 words, so I apologize for skimping on the truly creepy stuff. I could write thousands of words about this tale. 

True story: 

I lived in a haunted house.

The cream house in the centre housed four apartments. I lived on the top floor for a terrifying 8 months. I took this image from Google Earth street view.

The first indication was a huge fight between my sister and I. She claimed my drunken friends and I had nothing better to do that keep climbing up to the 3rd story apartment I was renting and trying to scare her. I told her drunk gals in their early 20s have better things to do with their time than scare baby sisters.

Next indication, my roommate called me frantically one evening to tell me there were about 50 people gathered outside the old victorian house that was now home to several apartments and they were all pointing up at our windows. Turned out it was the local Haunted Hike. What the heck?

Over the eight months we lived there, doors inexplicably opened, the grate in front of the fireplace would often be found on the other side of the room, footsteps lurked outside our door, odd electrical things would happen (my electric piano came on one evening when it wasn’t plugged in), my roommate claimed he was attacked by a hag that tried to choke him, and our cats were freaked out all the time.

But the worst, and most common haunting, was the cries of the babies. Yea. We’d wake to what sounded like babies crying in our chimney. No one in that house had children, let alone babies. Then one day my dad was talking to a retired cop who told a tale of a woman who murdered two babies in an apartment downtown. She burned their wee bodies in the fireplace. The apartment? Mine. I still get chills when I think about it. The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing she was caught. Was she the evil presence that attacked my roomie? 

Have you ever had a ghostly experience? 

Share it in the comments!

Now, pop on over to S.C. Mitchell and see how he's going to scare the bejebus out of us. I'm anticipating a terrifying piece of fiction from him. 

Romance Weekly: October 21, 2014

Hope everyone is enjoying their autumn. This week's challenge has a little bit of seasonal wonderfulness to it, at least in word choice. The creative Ms. Mishka Jenkins came up with this week's challenge: Write a love letter. (Let’s go with 400 words or less). Has to include the words- Sweet, Pumpkin, and Brush. I can't wait to see what the other authors in this group come up with. I wish I could say I was surprised by the direction my letter took, but now that I read it again, I know I'm not. This is a real love letter, to one of the two loves of my life. 

Hello my sweet boy,

Maybe one of these days you’ll be sorting through the archaic archives of my website and come across this letter. Perhaps it will be a surprise for you. Or perhaps I’ll have told you all about it at some point. If you’re a grown man by now and I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of your life for this long you likely know that your mother is terrible at keeping secrets.

I think this challenge was supposed to be fiction, but as I sat down this morning, all I could think about was you and the little person I watch you becoming. Right now you have the most angelic face. You also have the most evil laugh. Dancing, singing and drumming seem to be your favourite things this week. And you still hate getting your hair washed. When I come near you with a brush you’d think I was about to chop your head off. I love your little blonde curls, but if this keeps up, I might have to go against my own wishes and get your hair cut.

It’s October here and Halloween is just ten days away. As usual, I’m behind schedule and have no costume for you. If you ever stumble upon pictures of you dressed as a two-year-old Aristotle, you’ll know mommy and daddy wrapped you in a bed sheet at the last minute and tried to pass you off as a philosopher. Man, I hope I don’t end up doing that to you. But in case I do, I’m sorry!

My head is always full of ideas of great and wonderful things for us to do. Roast pumpkin seeds, rake all the leaves into a big jumping pile (this failed not only because of my lack of initiative, but because Hurricane Gonzalo blew them all away), go to the museum… but our days seem to get lost in long snuggly naps and never-ending games of chase and “One more book!”

Every day you surprise me with something new, and I think it’s fair of me to speak for Daddy too when I say that watching you grow and learn and become a little person with will and thought and purpose astounds us. We love you. We love how you change. And we look forward to a lifetime of watching you blow our minds.

Love always,

Mommy

I can't wait to read the letters everyone else wrote this week. I wonder how many will be fiction, and how many real? I love seeing the way we can all start at the same place and end up in so many different places. Let's start with Leslie Hachtel and see what kind of love letter she has for us. 

This is the face that I wake up to each day. :) 

Romance Weekly: October 14, 2014

This week we're talking dates. Bad dates. Dare we even say disaster dates? Collette Cameron wants us to share our stories, or if we've been blessed to only have had great dates in our lives, make one up. I wish I had to make one up. But nope. I've had my share of stinkers. But here's the worst.

In case this is your first time reading a blog post by me, there's something you should know. I live in Newfoundland, which is an island off the east coast of Canada. There's only a half a million people on this island even though we're about as big as California and we have some very remote villages with nothing around for hours other than equally small villages. Point is, you don't have a lot of options for date destinations. 

So it's the early 90s. I'm 16 and a guy I'd had a crush on for years had asked if I wanted to go for a drive with him. He didn't call it a date. I don't think anyone used the word date in that community. But when a seventeen year old boy asks a girl to go for a drive, and there's no other friends coming along, that's a date. 

I was so excited. I mean, I think I first dreamed of marrying him when I was eight. And finally, I was getting my chance. I had visions of him driving us to a spot overlooking the ocean. Maybe we'd listen to the radio. Maybe we'd kiss. Heck, maybe we'd even get out of the car and go for a romantic walk hand-in-hand in the moonlight, the sound of the water gently crashing along the rocks. Yea, I was a romantic even then. 

When he turned off the highway onto a dirt road in the opposite direction of the water I wondered where we were going. And then I saw the sign. Provincial landfill site. More commonly known as the dump. Yes, friends. His idea of a great romantic evening out was parking at the local dump where we would, if we were lucky, get front row seats to the black bears feasting on the garbage. 

I'd read plenty of Sweet Valley High and Harlequin books by then, and no where did the guy ever say "Hey baby, I've got a romantic night of bear watching planned for us up at the dump tonight." 

Did we kiss? No. Did my years long crush float away on the stench-infused wind that blew over the dump that summer night? Hell yea. And did we see bears? Oh yes we did. Right until I demanded we leave when one looked like it was about to walk on top of the car. 

Ah. Teen romance. Some guys just don't get it. Now let's hop over to the always wonderful Sarah Hegger who is sharing a disaster date from a work-in-progress. 

Had it been daylight, this is the sort of romantic backdrop I would have been witness to. 

Romance Weekly: September 30, 2014

As we say here in Newfoundland, "I'm smudderin' with the cold" so if there are typos out the wazoo today, please forgive me. My head feels like it's in a vice and there's a thunder storm in my ears. So without any preamble, here we go. I don't know who to thank for this weeks questions. I could do some internet digging but my head won't abide it. 

1.) Was there a defining moment in your life when you knew you were going to become a writer? If so, what was it?

I don't think so. I've always written stories and believed that one of these days I would have a book in print. I guess that's the optimist in me. My first short story was published when I was in grade six, so I suppose I had an over-inflated ego after that. lol. Seriously though, I think any writer knows somewhere deep inside that they have a story to tell that begs to be written. I think just by sitting down to get those words on paper makes us a writer. Now an author, that's a whole different question. Maybe someone will ask that in the months ahead. 

2.) When you write a story do you see it unfold as one big picture, or do you add layering in subsequent drafts?

It unfolds in one big picture for me. Editing is where I take out the nonsense, or add some more substance. But the story is the story. 

3.) How many drafts do you usually write before you send your work to your editor?

One, maybe one and a half. Quite often my editor gets a draft at the same time my crit partners do. On Geek God I waited until I'd heard back from all my crit partners before sending it to her. I should check with her and see which approach she prefers. :) 

Blah. I've done my duty. Now I"m going to send you off to visit Dani Jace and I'm going to go make some honey lemon tea and steam my head. See you next week when I'm hopefully feeling much better. 

Romance Weekly: September 23, 2014

Happy fall everyone! And what a great intro to my favourite season of the year. Thanks to the always wonderful J.J. Devine for this week's questions. If you've popped over here from LaNora Mangano's page, I have to confess that I loved her answer to the second question. Now let's see what I can come up with. 

1. You’re moving right along with a storyline and suddenly it takes an unexpected twist. Do you go with the flow and follow where the twist leads you or do you conform your story to your way?

As a pantser, I often get led down the garden path by my stories. However, so far I've been able to wrangle errant ideas back inside the fence. I like the surprises that writing this way brings, but I also like to make sure that I'm not destroying the book by letting my flights of fancy  go mad. 

2. What time of year is your best time for writing? Winter, Summer, Fall, Spring?







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"All Around the Circle"  by Terry Adey
Churchill Pond, Durrell, Twillingate, NL
September, 2013

I write all year long, but I feel most invigorated in the fall. I love the cool air, being able to work outside with a hot cup of coffee, wearing a thick knit sweater. This is when I get most excited about starting new books. Of my five published books, two of them take place in the fall. Those are the two I started in the fall.

I also find the fall very romantic. Maybe it's the awesome fall moons (Harvest and Hunter are my favourites!) perfect for a stroll, or the spicy lure of cinnamon and all space covering everything from apples to roast.

We have mainly evergreens in my part of the island, so there's not a whole lot of crisp leaves, but the land changes in the autumn. Everything turns gold and red, the sky gets more rustic and I just fall in love with Newfoundland all over again. A lot of people come here in the summer, but I think everyone should visit now. 

3. When looking for a publisher do you choose a traditional press, indie route, or one that does both, ebook and print? 

There's no secret that I'm an indie writer. That's not to say that if one of the big pubs came knocking I'd toss them out the door, but I'd have to consider very strongly what they're offering vs what I can do myself, and at what cost. I love the control I have over my career and I love seeing that my successes are a a result of my work. And if I fail, I have no one to blame but myself. That's liberating. 

Now, please do all my awesome blogmates a favour and hop along to all their posts today. You can start right here with the darling of British Columbia (perhaps my second-favourite province in Canada) Brenda Margriet. 

 

Romance Weekly: September 9, 2014

We're back to three questions time here on the good old RW blog hop. Thanks to Beth Carter for this week's gems. I think I'm most interested in seeing everyone's answer to the third question this week. If you've landed here from Collette Cameron's blog, you've seen hers and I wish I'd come up with that answer myself. Ah well. Let's get going, shall we, and see what I can come up with.

1. What’s your favorite aspect of novel writing? Dialogue? Setting? Conflict? Narration? Explain.

This is easy. Dialogue. I love the banter between characters. Maybe it's because I talk a lot myself, (and to myself!) but I think so much character is revealed through what they say. And what they choose not to say. So I suppose what I like writing best is dialogue both spoken and in the mind. Here's an example of what I mean from my current WIP, Geek God (available for pre-order I might add!) 

_______

“Oh. What’s up tonight?” Please let that have sounded casual. Just because my head is screaming: What? You’re not staying?

“Dungeons & Dragons.”

You know when your face reacts before you have a chance to get your shit together? That’s what’s happening right now. I think my eyes might have even bulged. I want to sound cool, but I can’t help myself.

“Adults play D&D?”

“Plenty of us do. What do you think happens to the kids who played it in their parents’ basements when they grow up?”

“They grow up?” My cousin played that game when he was a teenager. He and a group of his nerdy friends all hanging around a table rolling dice and talking about orcs and not letting girls play. Nerds. Geeks. Whatever. I wondered now if he still played.

“And how is it any different than still playing video games?”

“It’s totally different.”

“It’s not. It’s way more social than hanging out home alone with just a TV and console. I’m hanging out with people, talking, eating, drinking and having fun.”

What’s curious in this discussion is that he’s not getting angry or embarrassed. He seems to have no problem with admitting that he does this.

“How does it work?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your game. How does it work?”

I don’t know if I’m asking because I want to know, or if I’m just trying to keep him here a bit longer. One thing is certain. It’s clear that he’s not interested in me that way. If going and playing a geek game with his geek friends seems better than hanging out with a woman who’d done her damnedest to look as sexy as she can, then I’ve already lost this battle.

He might look like God’s gift to women, but clearly there’s a very good reason why he’s single.

What if he’s gay? Maybe Dungeons & Dragons is code for an all-male orgy.

_____

2.How do you choose the setting for your plot? Are they always similar settings or does it vary? (i.e., small town, big city, castle, etc.)

There's no secret about my setting. It's always Newfoundland in some way. Even if I have my characters travel a lot (like Jack and Daphne in Hard As Ice) my books are Newfoundland stories. I mean, look at this. How can I NOT write about this setting? 

3.I’m a big six-word memoir fan. (Hemingway even wrote one.) Describe your writing day using just six words.

“Moments of insanity. Hours of despair.”

And there you have it. Another week here and gone. Be sure to pop over and see Carolyn Spear's answers. Her six word answer is also very very true. Also, I think her website is beautiful! If you think so, you should tell her.