Kelly Steel's Blog, page 7

Your Stories with Rachael Thomas & #Giveaway

This week's we have Rachael Thomas talking about your story ideas. She has a new release, To Blackmail a Di Sione. She also has a Kindle copy giveaway to one commenter!

Connect with Rachael Thomas on the web:


Website           Blog          Facebook                  Twitter                Goodreads




Getting Your Story Idea From Start to Finish


It’s wonderful when you have a fantastic story idea, or when a brilliant hero or heroine comes to you, but how do you get that germ of an idea into a complete manuscript ready for submission?

Here’s my tips.

Firstly, I’d like to say that I am not a plotter or pantser. I prefer a good mix of both. This gives me a solid foundation on which to focus the story, but also the freedom of allowing the characters to live and breathe in my mind and my story.

Whether you have a plot idea or a fantastic setting in which to set a story, you will need to know more about your characters. For this I have compiled a character profile sheet, which I fill in such details as their age, how they look, to what they feel about love. I also dig around in their past and find out if any significant emotional events which happened to them in their childhood, adolescence and finally as an adult. This gives me a more rounded character with which to start writing.

If you have an idea for an opening scene or a setting you want to use, now is the time to put your hero and heroine into that scene. It’s time to ask the all-important question. What point of change is each of them facing as the story opens, the moment when the hero and heroine meet or reunite?

The opening of any book needs to draw the reader in, to excite them, and make them ask questions which will leave them no other option but to continue reading. This is why you need something that has changed in your character’s life, a situation that has to be overcome and most importantly for a romance, a situation that will bring the hero and heroine together.

Once I have got to this point, I finally begin to write the first chapter. If you are more of a pantser, you can go on from here and write you story to the happy ever after ending. For me though, once I’ve written that first chapter, I begin to think about the remainder of the story, using some of the questions which came to light writing the first chapter. After that I continue to write, chapter by chapter until the first draft is complete.

Now you will feel jubilant – and so you should. You have written a book. But the hard work isn’t over yet. Now is the time to put the story away, so that you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Critical eyes. You want to be able to read the story as if you are doing so for the first time and if you find yourself wondering why a character said or did a certain thing, then you need to work on the scene. Don’t be afraid to change things. That first draft isn’t set in stone; it’s just the beginning of your story. Read it and edit it as many times as you feel necessary.

How do you keep motivated to write and produce a full length manuscript of 50,000 words or more?

* Set yourself targets, but make sure they are achievable otherwise you will set yourself up for failure.

* Write regularly. It doesn’t have to be daily, it could be weekly, whatever fits in with your lifestyle.

* Believe in yourself and believe that you can do it, that you can write from the beginning to the end.

* Finally have fun. Enjoy your writing.



"When you've finished making offers for the bracelet, I have a proposition for you." Billionaire Liev Dragunov has spent a lifetime plotting revenge against those responsible for his family's ruin. Finally he has the way: Bianca Di Sione. She's denied their obvious attraction and coolly rebuffs every request to work for him—until he finds her weakness: a diamond bracelet she desperately needs! Bianca must become his fake fiancée if she wants her trinket! But the taste of revenge isn't as sweet as desire, and Liev discovers that she is innocent in more ways than one… Book 3 of The Billionaire's Legacy
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What To Do To Be Published by Marie Dry

This week we have author Marie Dry talking about how to be published! And she has a new release, Alien Betrayed. 




Website       Facebook          Twitter

WHAT TO DO TO BE PUBLISHED

People always ask me what one should do to be published and when I say just sit down and write and get that story down on the page I get this puppy dog look. Like I’m withholding some crucial information and if I would only give that up anyone can be published. Unfortunately there is no magic formula apart from BICHOK. Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard. Sitting down and writing and struggling with the story and character is the only way to get a rough draft done. And then again sitting down and editing is the only way to get that book ready for an editor.
That said, there are a few things that can help you in your writing journey.
For me finding Cassandra L. Shaw on RWA’s critique partner scheme and having her as my critique partner, made a huge difference. A critique partner needs to tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear. Leave your poor friends and family alone. They don’t understand the importance of giving feedback in time for you to continue with your story and don’t have the technical knowledge to pick up on things that need to be improved. And they won’t want to hurt your feelings and will tell you it’s very nice. Though if that doesn’t kill your enthusiasm for writing nothing will.

The next step forward for me was joining writer’s organizations like RWA, ROSA, Savvy Authors and a few yahoo writers groups. Suddenly I was connected and chatted with people struggling with exactly the same issues as I did.

Through Cassandra and the writers groups I belonged to I learned about Mary Buckham’ s online classes, beginners and advanced online classes at Savvy Authors and Margie Lawson’s excellent editing online classes. I was lucky enough that the right people came across my path at just the right time to take me a step forward every time I needed it.
Now I’m off to do the next step in my writer’s journey. BICHOK!

Alien Betrayed

In a bleak and apocalyptic future, where the Zyrgin Warriors are getting ready to conquer Earth, Marcie is sent to infiltrate the alien stronghold in the Rocky Mountains, only to be betrayed by her own people. Instead of stealing the alien’s technology and accomplishing her mission of causing mayhem and destruction among them, she is captured by Larz, an arrogant alien, who wreaks havoc with her heart when he insists that she will be his woman. Still, he may no longer want her when he discovers her secrets…ones she doesn’t even know she has.



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Important Things for Writers by Robin Gianna #Giveaway

This week we have author Robin Gianna talking about Five Important Things Every Fiction Writer Must Do. 
Her latest release,  The Prince and the Midwife . There are giveaways! 
Robin Gianna on the web:
Website               Facebook           Twitter
Five Important Things Every Fiction Writer Must Do:
Okay, I can hear some of you saying, “MUST do? There are no rules. Every writer has his or her own process.  Don’t tell me what to do!”
And I agree :-)  But I’m going to pass along things I’ve learned in my journey to become a competent fiction writer (and let me say, that was quite a long journey, and I’m still on that path!).   As with any other ‘rules’ these are really suggestions.  Strong suggestions.  Suggestions I hope you’ll seriously consider for your own writing life, because I want you to be happy and successful and that can be a very hard place to find.
1.    Understand that your first attempts at fiction writing probably won’t be all that great.
            I will confess that when I first decided I wanted to write fiction, I truly (embarrassingly!) thought I could crank out a book and sell it.  After all, I’d loved the written word forever, I’d read a lot in my life, and I had a bachelors degree in journalism.  I knew how to write, right?  Wrong.  At least, not fiction.  For me, it was a steep learning curve that I’m still traversing.  After all, one can’t learn a foreign language in six months, or become proficient on a musical instrument in a year.  Why should we expect writing a novel to be any different?  Give yourself time to learn and grow, and accept—embrace!—that reality.
2. Don’t pressure yourself into knowing for certain what you want to write, and let yourself explore.
            You may be a lucky soul who knows exactly what feels right to you,  A mystery reader may want to write only mysteries, and that’s a wonderful thing. I knew I wanted to write romance.  But what kind? Contemporary?  Category contemporary?  Historical?  Romantic suspense?  To be honest, it took me time to find a niche I enjoy, but also am still thinking about other things I want to write.  At the same time, I caution you against scattering your energies to the wind when you’re first writing.  Focus can be a good thing.  I suggest you choose one genre/sub-genre, learn about it, write it, then move on when you’re ready.  Otherwise, your efforts might be distilled so much you’ll never figure out the various places you belong.
3. Read, Learn, Study, Repeat
            Stephen King has wisely said “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”  I agree.  Reading is an incredibly important part of studying the craft of writing, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction that you want to write.  Start with one genre or sub-genre, and study it.  Read everything you can get your hands on.  Study the work of authors you love, and think about why you loved it. Make notes about books you didn’t like so much, and why. To me, this is the number one way to learn the craft and how to make your own stories better.
4. Finish the book
            Writing scenes and chapters can be fun.  And you will definitely learn things from that.  But you will never learn as much from five or ten or twenty partially written manuscripts as you will from a book that you finish.  Believe me, I speak from experience!  Like many aspiring writers, when I was first learning I’d get all excited about a story and feel great about the first chapters. Then something would happen—either I got stuck and didn’t know where to go after the initial love for my new work, or life would get it the way and I’d set it aside.  Then, month’s later, it would feel like climbing a mountain to get back into the book.  Who are these characters, again?  What were their goals and weaknesses and strengths, and what the heck did they want in the story?  I wouldn’t remember very well, and eventually it was always far easier to start a new story than wrestle that one to the ground.
Don’t get me wrong—any writing is good, and a great learning experience, whether it’s one chapter or ten.  But the first time I finally finished a 95,000 word novel was a revelation for me.  At that moment, I knew I had acquired light years of knowledge that my previous years of writing only partial manuscripts had never given me.  And I also knew I’d reached a place many writers never get to—a finished manuscript.  Or at least one where I had been proud to type ‘The End.’  You owe it to yourself to get there, and knowing that revision awaits you is part of the joy.  It is, I promise. :-)
5. Understand that revision is your opportunity to take a piece of rough gold and polish it until it shines.                        I encourage you to keep at your story without second-guessing yourself too much, and falling into the trap of revising every chapter you write before moving on to the next. I know that is a strategy that works for some writers, but it also can be a distraction that will never allow you to reach ‘The End’ which, as I said before, is so important.  Let yourself make mistakes. Be sloppy. Make notes where you need to go back and do research.  Keep going, and after you get to the end, allow yourself to bask in the glow of that wonderful accomplishment.  Set the book aside for a while.  A few weeks is optimal.  You’ll be able to read through it with a more impartial, critical eye.  Work at the revision.  Give yourself plenty of time to enrich the story.  But don’t expect perfection, because there is no such thing, and at some point you must send it off to the world and know that it’s good enough. And then you can truly say, “I’m proud of this book.”  And you should be. :-)

Good luck!

The Prince and the Midwife (The Hollywood Hills Clinic)





His Cinderella midwife Gabriella Cain prides herself on the exemplary service she provides to her celebrity moms-to-be. So she certainly doesn't appreciate Dr. Rafael Moreno suddenly taking over her department…even if he isroyalty—and gorgeous! But distrust soon turns to secrets shared as irresistible Rafe proves dangerously easy to fall for. With a painful past behind her, can Gabriella dare hope for a fairy-tale ending with her prince?
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One Kindle Copy Giveaway of  The Prince and the Midwife  to one commenter!        
Enter this Goodreads Giveaway to win a signed copy of  The Prince and the Midwife.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway The Prince and the Midwife by Robin Gianna Giveaway ends July 11, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Reinventing the Wait Part 2 by Jacqui Jacoby, Illegal Exit #Giveaway

This week we have author Jacqui Jacoby talking about Reinventing the Wait. This is Part 2 and Part 1 of this is on Revisions & Editions. Jacqui also has a new release, Illegal Exit. 




Jacqui Jacoby on the web:
Website             Blog                         Twitter          Facebook

Google + Jacqui Jacoby          Instagram: JacquiJaxJacob      Pinterest:  Jacqui Jacoby
Over to Jacqui...

Continued from R&E

 In his book Time Management for Writers, Ted Schwarz suggests that it is wise to write in a variety of areas in order to utilize your time more effectively.  “You can be researching for one project, interviewing for another and writing a third.  As you become tired of one, another is fresh in your mind.”            And if you come to think of it, it’s perfect practice for when the book deals do start pouring in.  Once you have a signed contract, you will be expected to edit that manuscript -– while working on the next project.  And if you are luckily enough to be on your third book deal or beyond, then you are going to need to promote the one you wrote way back when.            “In general, it’s best to write in the same manner that you would work in other fields,”  Mr. Schwarz says in the above-named book.  “A normal workday in an office, a factory, school or other place of employment is constantly changing.  You are doing paperwork.  Having meetings, selling, teaching, tuning up an engine, making a change for a customer or whatever.  To do otherwise would become boring.  You would begin slowing your pace.  You would talk of ‘burn out’, just as writer’s talk of ‘writers’ block.’”            So we reinvent the way we wait.  We just don’t look at the page quota that we have to put out each day to finish that novel.  We look into other ways to work in the business, how to create a career.             We can volunteer to help with our chapter.  Maybe it can be as elaborate as assisting the treasurer or as simple as judging their annual contest.  We can volunteer for RWA, working at the national conference to introduce speakers.  We can write articles and submit them to RWR or a local chapter newsletter.  If it comes back, recheck the Writer’s Market and see where else it might fit.  And it doesn’t just have to be an article on writing.  Do you have a hobby?  An area of expertise?  Do you cook or garden or have some advice for a parenting magazine?  Look at the entries in the Writer’s Market and see where you can submit.            Do you have a web page?  Then it requires regular maintenance.  And if you don’t, have you thought about getting one?  It is a great place to organize and display your collection of work.  It gives an editor a place to go and see what you have been doing.             Contests.  Some writer’s swear by them.  Others don’t think they are a place to waste your energy and money.  But if you look down at the final round contest judges and the editor you have been wanting to present to is listed, then you just might have a shot at getting your manuscript into their hands.            Writing is the process of putting words onto the page and turning out a story that other people will want to read.  A writing career is a series of jobs, all rolled into together that make up just that – a career.            It’s up to us, as the managers of our careers, to figure out where best to put our time to make the most out of what we have.  We have to write the books, but there are so many other things we can do to further ourselves along the industry path.  It’s a balancing act, of course, an act of inventing the writer we envision and then putting a plan into action to get us exactly where we want to be.


Illegal Exit
The crime wasn’t in what Trevor Grant had done. It lay in what was done to him. Now, years after he lost his family, he faces life in prison for his part in removing the guilty. In Hannah Parker’s mind, she has two strikes against her: she has too much money and too many brains. In her experience where one of these might blacklist you, the two together was a life sentence.
When the chance comes to see the boys on trial, their cause becomes her cause. With the silent resources behind her, she will work the system, securing the release of the men she believes innocent of conscience, if not the crime.

Strangers coming from different backgrounds, Trevor with Gavin, will join Hannah. She will become part of their everyday living—holding Trevor close—even as they keep an escape plan in place in case anyone ever looks twice and asks “do you live around here?” 

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Goodreads Book Giveaway Illegal Exit by Jacqui Jacoby Giveaway ends July 29, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Get Up, Stand Up by Annie O'Neil, One Night, Twin Consequences #Giveaway

We have author Annie O'Neil sharing here this week. She has a new release, 
One Night, Twin Consequences (The Monticello Baby Miracles) She also has a Kindle copy giveaway for one commenter! 




Annie O'Neil on the web:

Website           Facebook               Twitter


Get Up, Stand Up!
This, is by no means a call to arms – it’s simply the best way I get my brain kicking around some fresh ideas when sitting and staring at the screen doesn’t work anymore.
Life is pretty fluid around our house – there is always something going on. Cows needing to be moved to a different pasture, dogs needing a walk, a veg patch (constantly) in need of being weeded. The last one never gets done, but sometimes when I am struggling over a book, I pick myself up and go for a little wander – even if it’s just up to the barn to scratch a big, furry cow head or to the kitchen to clean out the crumbs underneath the toaster (Yes, some folk call this prevaricating, I call it….pontificating).


I know a chap who does his best thinking with his hands woven together behind his head whilst he’s lying on the sofa. Yes, he may accidentally fall asleep occasionally, but he’s written four books – so his snoozes are clearly productive. All of which is to say – find what works for you. I need to do something. Sometimes it’s just write a list! If I’m worried about not forgetting to get milk next time I go to the grocery store, or even remembering to go to the grocery store, I’m not focused on the story – and that is the very best place to be. Brain engaged, body engaged, fingers flying on the keyboard. So if it takes a walk, a list, a snooze or some weeding (pah ha ha!), go for it – just so long as you find yourself magnetically pulled back to the keyboard, or notepad with that Ah ha! Moment charging you at the end of it.

One Night, Twin Consequences (The Monticello Baby Miracles)

Unexpected surprises come in twos!  When Dr. Matteo Torres invites nurse Harriet Monticello to work with orphans in Buenos Aires, her head says yes! It's something she's always wanted to do…although her heart is wary of the irresistible off-limits doc. Shy Harriet isn't used to taking anything for herself, and yet before they board the plane for Argentina, the chemistry between them combusts and they give in to just one night together… But their night of recklessness isn't without consequences. And now Harriet has nine months to melt this brooding doctor's heart!

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Drawing Strength from Rejections by Rachael Thomas & #Giveaway

We have author Rachael Thomas talking about Drawing Strength from Rejection. She has a new release, The Sheikh's Last Mistress. She also has a Kindle copy giveaway for one commenter! 




Connect with Rachael Thomas on the web:


Website           Blog          Facebook                  Twitter                Goodreads

A rejection is something just about every writer will get at some point in their career. What you do with that rejection and how you allow it to affect you is entirely up to you. When a rejection lands you can either curl up in despair and assume it means you are a hopeless writer or you can draw strength from it. Armed with the knowledge that rejections would certainly come my way when I seriously began to pursue my dream of publication, I decided that it would be the latter.

Look at JK Rowling for instance. Would Harry Potter ever have seen the light of day if she’d given up after the first rejection? I always told myself after a rejection that I wouldn’t give up, because you never know what is around the next corner.

The Sheikh’s Last Mistress, my latest Presents title also proves that. I first began writing it in 2012 – long before I became a published author. By the end of the year I had submitted the first three chapters. During the spring of 2013 those first chapters had resulted in a rejection. Another one to add to my list! However I just told myself to get on with the next story, which for me was the one that became my first published book. Several published books into my writing career, I knew it was time to bring Zafir and Destiny’s story back out and rewrite it and now that book is out on the shelves!

Tips On Keeping Strong When A Rejection Lands

1. You are allowed to be disappointed. After all you put lots into that submission. You are also allowed to scream and shout if that makes you feel better, but once you’ve done that move on. Look to the next project and remember you don’t know what’s around that corner.

2. Don’t just focus on the big picture of becoming published, focus instead on the smaller steps needed to get there, like finish a chapter or a book, make a submission. By focusing on these you’ll be heading to that ultimate goal of publication.

3. Don’t take it personally. A rejection for a piece of your writing it just that and not a rejection of you as a person.

4. Nothing you write is ever wasted. Some things will be published, others won’t, but everything is part of the apprenticeship and you will learn something from it.

5. Never give up on yourself or your dream.

6. Always celebrate the little achievements, no matter how small.

Rachael Thomas's new release:
The Sheikh’s Last MistressPromoted to Princess!  Destiny Richards knows she is playing with fire when she accepts charismatic Sheikh Zafir Al Asmari's job offer, but it seems like a fair price to pay to start her life over again. Until the temperature reaches the boiling point and Destiny finds herself spending one out-of-this-world night with the sheikh! When powerful Zafir seduces English rose Destiny, he never anticipates she'll hold the title of his Last Mistress. But their scorching affair has shocking repercussions. Now, before their nine months are up, Zafir must convince Destiny to make their arrangement more permanent!Read Reader  Reviews
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Enter this Goodreads Giveaway for signed copies of The Sheikh's Last Mistress:


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Goodreads Book Giveaway The Sheikh's Last Mistress by Rachael Thomas Giveaway ends May 31, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Cover Reveal! A LOVE THAT DISTURBS by Medeia Sharif

A LOVE THAT DISTURBS by Medeia Sharif
Evernight Teen , June 17, 2016

Maysa Mazari is alarmed by her mother’s talk about arranged marriage. Meanwhile, as a hijab-wearing Pakistani-American, she wants to find love on her own. Her judgmental Muslim clique has protected her from racist taunts, although the leader, Aamal, is turning on her as Maysa strays from the group because of her attraction to Haydee.

Haydee Gomez is a former gang member and juvenile detention student. Now living with a clean-cut aunt, she wants to turn her life around, even though one person will never let her forget her roots—Rafe, her abusive pimp. Haydee attempts to pull away from a life of prostitution when she develops feelings for Maysa, although Rafe isn’t willing to give her up too easily.

Finding themselves in danger from Maysa’s friends and Haydee’s pimp, it’s apparent their love disturbs everyone around them as they fight to stay together.

Find Medeia – YA and MG Author

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Problem Solving by Ella Carey, The House by the Lake #Giveaway

We invited author Ella Carey. Her latest release is The House by the Lake. She also has a Kindle copy giveaway for one commenter! 


Ella Carey on the web:



Facebook      Twitter      Author Page     Website
Problem solving in your stories
All writers are sometimes faced with plot problems that are impossible to resolve. We all hit points in our novels where sometimes, we are simply stuck.
I write with an element of mystery in my books. Setting up an intriguing mystery is all very well- problem is, you also have to solve it!
 But it’s the same for any genre- you need to set up a great premise, but then, how do you solve it?
The best outcome, to me, is to provide readers with what they want, but in a way that they don’t expect.
But what happens when you have set up a great premise, or even a great idea for a scene and you need to resolve things, or move the story forward, and you are simply stuck?
It’s all too tempting to over think these problems, and come up with a complex, convoluted solution- one that readers will see through. You just don’t want that. You want something tricky. You want something they will remember. You want something that they would never have guessed.
Here are some ways that I have found useful when sorting out tricky plot problems.
1.      I’ve learned that overthinking simply doesn’t work. All I end up doing is going around in circles and getting very stressed. Instead, I nearly always get away from my desk and go for a walk. I’m a bit of a kinetic thinker, so if I’m out in the fresh air, and deliberately not thinking- an answer will filter into my head.
2.      I always bear in mind that I don’t want to use deux et machina ex (coincidence, in English!) to solve a problem in a plot. It’s always best to have your character proactively get in there and find a solution to whatever problem it is they have. That’s something that I always try to bear in mind. The easiest answers will throw themselves at you, but just watch that you are not relying on coincidence to solve a mystery, or get your heroine and hero together, whatever it is you are trying to do.

3.      Sleep on it. I often find that I’ll wake up the next morning, with the answer formed in my head. Much like walking, sleeping activates your subconscious and you will just find that the answer will throw itself out there while you rest.
4.      If your subconscious doesn’t want to play ball, then my next method is to brainstorm. Just free write a list of possible outcomes for your story- and if you are really stuck, bear in mind that you’ve probably created a conflict that is so hard to resolve, your readers will be kept guessing, and that is exactly what you want! So, brainstorm a great big list of stuff. Your brain will throw out all sorts of ridiculous suggestions. Most of them won’t help. But you need to work through the rubbish to get to the gold.
5.      Try to use the adage- ‘all is not what it seems’ in your novel. So, if you have led the reader down the path that a certain assumption is a given, throw it on its head when you find yourself stuck. Think about the implications of ‘all is not what it seems.”  Really think about that statement and apply it to your novel’s world. Try turning a big part of your story on its head to solve a mystery, or a romantic problem, so that you intrigue the reader even more.

6.      And my last tip, is to turn clichés on their heads. If you are really stuck, think about the most boring, clichéd way you could resolve your plot point. And then do the opposite. Just write what the reader does not expect. After all, that is often one of the most interesting things in life, when all is not what it seems on the surface, then you have a story to tell.

Happy writing! And I hope you enjoy solving your plotting problems in the most creative ways possible!

 The House by the Lake
Anna is content with her well-ordered life in San Francisco. But her world is turned upside down when her beloved grandfather, Max, reveals a startling secret: Anna is part of an aristocratic family who lost everything during World War II. What’s more, Max was forced to leave behind a precious item over seventy years ago in their estate in old Prussia. It’s now his ardent wish that Anna retrieve it.Anna burns with questions as she heads for Germany: What memento could be so important to her grandfather? And why did he keep their history hidden? As she searches for answers, she finds herself drawn to Wil, a man who may hold the key to unlock the mystery. Together they discover that her family’s secrets are linked with an abandoned apartment in Paris, and these secrets go deeper than she ever imagined.Alternating between 1930s Europe and the present, The House by the Lake illuminates the destiny of a family caught in the tumult of history.
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Jacqui Jacoby on 'Research' #Giveaway of Dead Men Seal the Deal

This week we invited author Jacqui Jacoby and she came bearing gifts. There's a kindle copy giveaway of her latest release, Dead Men Seal the Deal to one commenter! 


Jacqui Jacoby on the web:
Website           Blog                        Twitter        Facebook
Google + Jacqui Jacoby          Instagram: JacquiJaxJacob      Pinterest: Jacqui Jacoby

Research, the Sauce of the Story
I have a movie I like a lot.  It came out in 2009, a sequel to its predecessor.  But in this movie one of the characters, of Mexican heritage, says while in a fight scene “Tabasco sauce? Who else but us would think up that stuff?”(paraphrase)Love the director.  Love the actors.  However, a quick Google search of twenty seconds reveals:
“Tabasco Sauce was first produced in 1868 by  Edmund McIlhenny , a  Maryland -born former banker who moved to  Louisiana  around 1840.”**
Love the movie still, but that line always annoys me.  And someone should have checked it.Research is what we do to give depth to the books we are writing.  We may know the hero’s hair is blond and his eyes are brown, but it takes more to make him come alive and bounce off the page.He needs hobbies, he needs a job.  Somewhere along the line before hit page one he was born, giving him two parents, maybe a sibling.  Did he get his love Golden Retrievers from that family pet he had?  How about how does he like his coffee?I always need to know how my characters like their coffee. I think it gives them personality.  The tough hero? Black?  Or three sugars and cream? Very telling.In 1986 I was at UCLA using The Young Library catalog card system to check out every fact I had to check.  That library had a lot floors and a dime for every copy at one of the strategically placed photocopy machines.  Now we have Google and I hear a browser history of where we go on our research trips. In writing DEAD MEN PLAY THE GAME, I was all over the board.  I had a large cast of characters with varying skills and interests.  One day I literally had to find a wedding dress for the heroine,  the Italian pronunciation of “My Beautiful”, learn how to make how to make a Sapphire Martini, build a detonator to explode the gas line and find the best method used to  cut a man’s throat--is it right to left if you come up behind or left to right?(I’ve often wondered what my NSA guy is thinking as he reads my latest list of searches<g>)Print what you find online and put it in a note book under the proper heading.  Photocopy what you get out of books.  It you watch it, and I do use movies to get the feel of something (i.e. Young Guns for a western) take notes of what stands out.  Write everything down that is important to your novel.  Make sure you have a method to retrieve the information you locate because I can promise you, when you get to page 300 in the book after five months of work, you might not remember how that gun operated.Fiction is our imagination coming to life on the page.  Though the story is made up, a lot of what we put into won’t be.  Look hard for that one piece of fact that will blend into the worlds we build … and stay away from Tabasco Sauce.

** June 23, 2015, from   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TabascoSauce
Jacqui Jacoby's latest release, Dead Men Seal the Deal



Too-playful-for-his-own-good, Jason Sullivan keeps himself busy working his job, hitting the gym, and dating the right girl for the right amount of time. He loves romance. He loves treating a woman right. Until he has a chance encounter with Taylor Grant. Taylor escaped Georgia to flee a broken relationship. Her convictions to stay single, stay away from men and give up sex altogether will be challenged when the mischievous Jason gets her in his cross hairs. 

Jason’s seductions are not only in his romances, but also in his job. When a meeting with a new client brings Jason's human past forefront, secrets and regrets come crashing down around him. He will turn not only to the new lady in his life, but to his ‘brothers’—Travis, Ian, Quinn and Evan—who will unite as an unstoppable force that not even one greedy, vindictive hag can expect.

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Whose POV? By Alison Stuart & Giveaways!

We invited author Alison Stuart this week and she's here talking about 'Whose Point of View?' Alison has a new release, EXILE’S RETURN.



WHOSE POINT OF VIEW?
In the opening scene of a book I picked up recently, the story begins in omniscient POV (the narrator) watching as the hero ascends the steps to a house, POV moves to the hero for two paragraphs, then to the footman, then to the heroine, back to omniscient and back to the hero. All of this in one short scene.
This wasn’t a contest entry or a first book – this was the umpteenth book by a well published author. Thinking it may just be an unfortunate aberration I ploughed on, but every single scene is the same… head hopping between the narrator and several characters. Sorry to say, but this was a DNF (did not finish).  And the reason I did not finish it? With all that head hopping firstly I couldn’t keep track of whose head I was in and secondly, and most importantly, I did not care enough about any of the characters (let alone the hero or heroine) to persist. The reason I did not care was because I never got a chance to get to know them, get into their heads, under their skin, see what they were seeing, feel what they were feeling…
And that is what point of view is all about. A good story puts you into the character’s skin and you become that character. This is even more important when you are writing a romance which is all about the relationship between two people.  I’m the last one to lecture about ‘rules’ but in my opinion this is a simple ‘rule’ or guidance, particularly if you are just starting out on your writing journey. Unless you are supremely confident in your writing, Keep It Simple Sweetie (KISS) -  one point of view per scene is enough.If you are writing a romance (even if you’re not!), the only two points of view the reader wants to see is that of the two protagonists – the hero and the heroine. One point of view character per scene.  Put yourself in the shoes of the point of view character. SHOW DON’T TELL. Guess what… he doesn’t care about his own ‘blue eyes’ but he does care about her grey eyes.  What can he see, smell, hear, touch?
But which character to use? The character who has the biggest emotional investment in the scene and if you find the scene is not working, switch the point of view to the other character and you may find seeing it through HER eyes makes the scene work a whole lot better.
If you must use the point of view of a third character, use it sparingly but consistently through the book. If Uncle Albert has an important role to play, feed little scenes with him (again in his POV alone)  from early on in the book, don’t save his point of view for one scene right at the end. Make him a part of the story arc, but not so as to detract from the two principal character.
But please, please do not head hop between characters in the same scene! (Or at least not unless your name is Nora Roberts)
ABOUT ALISON Award winning Australian author, Alison Stuart learned her passion from history from her father. She has been writing stories since her teenage years but it was not until 2007 that her first full length novel was published. A past president of the Romance Writers of Australia, Alison has now published seven full length historical romances and a collection of her short stories.  Many of her stories have been shortlisted for international awards and BY THE SWORD won the 2008 EPIC Award for Best Historical Romance. 
Her inclination for writing about soldier heroes may come from her varied career as a lawyer in the military and fire services. These days when she is not writing she is travelling and routinely drags her long suffering husband around battlefields and castles.
Readers can connect with Alison at her website, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
Alison’s latest book is EXILE’S RETURN , a stunning historical romance set in the period of the English Civil War. England, 1659: Following the death of Cromwell, a new king is poised to ascend the throne of England. One by one, those once loyal to the crown begin to return ... Imprisoned, exiled and tortured, fugitive Daniel Lovell returns to England, determined to kill the man who murdered his father. But his plans for revenge must wait, as the King has one last mission for him. Agnes Fletcher's lover is dead, and when his two orphaned children are torn from her care by their scheming guardian, she finds herself alone and devastated by the loss. Unwilling to give up, Agnes desperately seeks anyone willing to accompany her on a perilous journey to save the children and return them to her care. She didn't plan on meeting the infamous Daniel Lovell. She didn't plan on falling in love.Thrown together with separate quests – and competing obligations – Daniel and Agnes make their way from London to the English countryside, danger at every turn. When they are finally given the opportunity to seize everything they ever hoped for, will they find the peace they crave, or will their fledgling love be a final casualty of war?


TO MARK THE RELEASE OF EXILE’S RETURN , ALISON IS RUNNING A CONTEST TO WIN A ‘GUARDIANS OF THE CROWN’ SWAG BAG. Enter by clicking HERE