The HEA Cafe

Something New from Lyn Cote—

“Interesting History–What You Never Learned in School” Blog
As most of my readers know, I write contemporary romance and romantic suspense but my first love is historical sagas. And with my masters degree in American history, I love doing research but I don’t get to share every interesting fact about the past that I find.
So what I’m intending on doing is to blog three times a week. Sunday or Monday will be the latest book by a friend (or me). And then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll be blogging on “Interesting History–What You Never Learned in School.”
My October release, BLESSED ASSURANCE, is a reissue of my first historical series and features three books in three settings: 
v   the Great Chicago Fire of  1871,
v   the San Francisco Quake of 1906 and
v   New Orleans during the birth of Prohibition in 1920.
I unearthed tons and tons of research that of course never appeared in the books. (My characters just wouldn’t stop what they were doing and give history lectures—why not??? )
Each Tuesday and Thursday, I intend to share some of the interesting facts and information I found while doing research about these different settings and their history, starting with Chicago. You can receive find or receive these message in three places:
v   Here on the HEA Café under Weekly Topics,
v   at www.shoutlife.com/LynCote blog,
v   or at www.amazon.com when you enter my name and go to my listing of books, then scroll down to my messages.
Today here at the Happily Ever After Café, I’m debuting this new blog so you are the first to receive this introduction and a hint about what Tuesday’s blog will be about—Ta Da!!!
Intro: The first blogging city is Chicago in 1871—
Have you ever seen an Interstate or railroad map of the US? All the major highways and more particularly all the rail lines radiate from Chicago like a giant wagon wheel with Chicago as the hub. Have you ever wondered why this is so? It’s all due to a simple 19^th century invention that we all benefit from still today.
What do you think the invention that made this possible, made Chicago the hub of all trade, all railroads in America? Why did all rail-lines lead to Chicago, just as in ancient times all roads led to Rome?
So see you Tuesday for—
“Interesting History–What You Never Learned in School” Blog #1
 

Hi, I’m Kate Pearce and I’m late.  I could list a million reasons why I’m late but I’m sure I have better things to tell you about. I write erotic romance for Ellora’s Cave, Virgin ‘Cheek’ and Kensington Aphrodisia, so at the moment my writing schedule meanders between Regency rakes. interglalactic vikings and cowboys.
People often ask me how I keep everyone straight but it’s not that difficult. All the characters have such distinct personalities that I rarely mix them up. I have been known to transpose the odd name now and again, but generally they all stay in their own books. Sometimes I wish I was one of those organized writers who keep spreadsheets and character profiles as I have an annoying habit of getting half way through a book and forgetting a minor character’s name…then I have to go back and re-read which wastes time.  When I’m rich and famous I’m planning on employing an assistant whose job it is to take care of all these annoying details for me! (or perhaps bribing one of my teenage sons)
One of the interesting things about being a published author is that the journey for my characters doesn’t end under my bed or in the filing cabinet, sometimes it ends in a printed book. I’ve also found that books are like boomerangs. You constantly send them out… and they keep coming back.

Firstly, your pristine manuscript pages arrive covered in red ink, often smelling of smoke and potentially concealing a few coffee rings or cookie crumbs within their crumpled folds. These are called ‘copy edits’ and often make an author cry. And don’t think you can lose these pages…for a print publisher they are the only marked up copy of changes…if you lose them, someone will have to go through the whole lot again and I suspect you, the author, would not be very popular.

Then you get another pile of paper which looks like a book before someone has cut the pages out and stuck them together with a cover. This stage is called the ‘galleys’. And although the publisher ’says’ you can make changes, its kind of implied that if you do too many, you might not be very popular. I also think they say this because usually at this point you, the author, have read the flipping manuscript about 80 times and, if you are anything like me, you hate loathe and despise it, wonder how on earth you ever wrote such drivel and contemplate changing your name and moving to Australia. But that might just be me…

Eventually there are also things called ARC’s , advanced reading copies, but I believe you have to be very fancy like Claire Delacroix to always get these. (Sometimes I get them, sometimes not). One thing I can tell you is that a lot of authors get very annoyed when ARC’s get sold on eBay before the book even comes out. Personally, I’m still at the stage where I go and check out everyone  on eBay who offers my book for sale because I’m still impressed that anyone bought it in the first place, but I’m sure that will change.

Finally a box appears on your doorstep and there, in all its glory, is your book. For me it’s always an amazing moment. the fact that something I made up in my head now has a physical form. It’s at this point that I always lick the cover…gross but true. Somehow tasting the book makes it real. And as for the ugly rumor that I also lick my proposals, this isn’t true-those I kiss before I put them in the envelope-no licking involved, I promise.

And the boomerang effect continues with the whole review cycle. In some ways the book has a whole life of its own after you write ‘the end’. And then, of course, while all this is going on, you still have to be writing another book and then another so that you end up juggling a whole series of processes. Isn’t writing fun?

I was hoping to have the cover of ‘Simply Sexual’ to show you this month but I haven’t received it yet, instead here is “Roping the Wind” which I love, especially as the people on the front actually look a lot like my characters!

It’s a good job I like editing so the boomerang effect doesn’t bother me too much!

Which part of the writing process do you love/hate the most?

See you next month!

Kate

“Roping the Wind” Virgin ‘Cheek’ UK Dec/US/Feb 08

“Simply Sexual” Kensington Aphrodisia Feb 08

What if I told you that in as little as ten minutes a day you could boost your creativity, elevate your mood, improve your memory and guarantee a better night’s sleep?  Sounds too good to be true?  It’s not.

As little a ten minutes a day of aerobic exercise can do all that and more. 

I can hear the groans now.  You don’t have time.  You have deadlines, a day job, family responsibilities.  You barely have time to write, much less spend precious time exercising.  All you get is tired and sweaty.  Exercise is too hard.

So is becoming a writer, but you’re willing to sacrifice and work to reach your goal.  Consider exercise another weapon in the arsenal you use to win the war we call publishing.

Studies, such as the one in Creativity Research Journal, have supported the theory that creativity is enhanced by exercise.  Tell me of one writer who wouldn’t love to have more creativity and I’ll show you a liar.  Personally, I like to sit down at my computer brimming with plot ideas and twists.  If exercise helps me do that, I can carve out at least ten minutes.

Exercise also improves your mood.  Rejection is a hard fact of this business.  No matter how long you’ve written or how successful you are, when you get a rejection letter or your current book sells less than expected, it hurts.  Instead of breaking out the chocolate or buying a pair of shoes, why not call a friend and go slap around a tennis ball?  Better yet, join a gym and learn to box.  Picturing a particular editor or agent’s face on a heavy bag can be rewarding and no one has to know why you have that smile on your face.

Have you ever read a book and halfway through realized that the heroine’s eyes changed from blue to green?  Exercise improves memory and can help you avoid such embarrassing screw ups.  Studies show that a good night’s sleep increases concentration and productivity.  Physical activity contributes to sound sleeping.  I’ve heard stories of writers who wake up with an entire plot fresh in their mind.  The subconscious can work out plot problems or break through writer’s block and exercise helps to regulate sleep cycles.

Finally, writing is a solitary business.  Taking a walk with a neighbor or joining a gym and partaking in a group aerobics class can help break up the loneliness of the job. 

Try it and I’ll bet before long it becomes a habit you won’t want to break.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been contemplating what I’d blog about today. Since I currently write 1940s ghost stories, I had big plans to discuss all things ghostly. However, after the busy day I had, I couldn’t ignore a topic that is so near and dear to my heart. 

The balancing act of being a working mother and writer. Anyone of these alone could be all-consuming. Honestly, some days I’m not sure how I do it.

Is it insanity? 

I’ve asked myself that question countless times. But in all honesty, it’s not insanity. It’s love. 

Love, you say? Yes, love.

One - I love my children. My number one goal is to bring them up to be successful, happy human beings. Part of doing that means working the day job to aide in their health, well-being and social life. Moreover, when I’m working, I’m fully there doing the best job I can. Two - I love the written word. I love reading it and I love creating visual images and heart-felt emotions with the words I artfully weave together…or at least I hope I artfully weave them together. That’s what I aim for. *g*

Dare I admit that I’ve had those days when finding time to sit down and write feels something akin to running on a treadmill? I look at the clock. It’s 11 p.m. and I’m dead tired. I’ll work on paragraph, I promise myself, and then I can sleep. Come 1 a.m. and that one paragraph has become many more. I realize two hours has passed, and the next thought is, “Oh no. Morning’s going to come just as quickly.” 

But you know what? I couldn’t imagine not writing. When I’m not writing, I feel a little lost. Or writer’s block? In my bio I say writing is as essential to me as oxygen. It’s true. It’s been a part of my life since childhood. Writing centers me. Lightens my spirit and keeps me going. 

I’m still trying to perfect my balancing act. Who knows one day I might find the ideal formula that actually includes sleep. 

As for next month, I plan to talk ghosts. See you then! 

Joie

My son has decided he wants to play hockey.  Now, any good Canadian mother would have had him in skates before his first pair of shoes, but I’ve never claimed to be a good mother.    He’s taken a few skating lessons over the years, but nothing serious, and has never shown any interest in hockey until this past spring.

Suddenly, he’s Ron MacLean and Don Cherry rolled into one.  He knows all the teams, and all the players’ stats, and, at the ripe old age of 9, has decided he’s going to play in the NHL.  Not only that, but he’s going to play with Jason Spezza on the Ottawa Sentators.  (I’m trying to convince him that the Canucks would be a better choice, but he won’t be swayed.)

Let me back up a second so you get the full picture.  This particular son isn’t exactly the most patient person in the world (a fault I must take full blame for).  If he’s going to do something, he wants to be the best at it right now.  It takes about 2.1 seconds for him to get frustrated and angry with himself if things don’t go just how he wants them to, and when that happens, there’s anger, tears, etc.  He’s played other sports before, but has never ever shown as much interest in anything as he has these past months in hockey.

Are you beginning to feel my angst?

So, wanting to encourage that interest, we registered him in hockey (ka-ching!), suited him up in all the gear (KA-CHING!) and then decided he really should go to hockey school over the summer because every other kid on his team will have had a couple years of hockey under his belt by the time the season starts.  So we signed him up for hockey school (KA-KA-CHING!!).  I assure him that he can’t possibly be the only kid in hockey school who’s never played before.  I explain, over and over, that it’s going to be hard, that he’s going to be frustrated, and that he needs to understand it will take time, patience and practice for him to learn to play and skate.  He’s good with that, while I’m still a little hesitant, but off we go to the first day of hockey school.

There had to be about 40 other kids on the ice with him, and he was the only one who’d never played before.  He was the only one who couldn’t skate.  He’d fall down and get back up.  He’d skate the wrong way.  He couldn’t stop, no matter how hard he tried to learn, so instead, he turned in circles.  Wi–i-i-de circles.  He chased that puck up and down the ice for hours every day, while I held my breath, waiting for him to have the melt-down I knew was coming.  I waited and waited and waited. 

Nothing.

He kept going. 

The other kids were literally skating rings around him, and he kept going.

And there I sat, up in the stands, crying my eyes out. 

I wanted to pull him off the ice and tell him to pick something else; something that wasn’t so hard, something that wouldn’t frustrate him so much or cause him such self-doubt.  As a writer, I know what it means to want something that much.  I know how frustrating it is to work so hard, yet still feel as though I’m not getting anywhere, and that I’ll never be as good as the others.  Rejection is not something anyone wants to see their child go through, and it was a physical pain I could feel in every cell of my body.

But, as my DH likes to remind me on occasion, it’s not always about me.  This was about my son, who, somehow, has found something he wants more than anything else.  The boy who would rather give up than be ‘bad’ at it, has decided to get past that and do whatever it takes to become a hockey player. 

As his mother, I ache with wanting to protect him from anything that will hurt him or break his heart, and from anything that is so hard.

As a writer, however, I know that pain, heart break and hard work will all pay off in the end.  Will he make it to the NHL?  Who knows?  He believes he will and that’s all that matters.   The mother in me has decided to work with the writer in me and encourage him to keep going, to keep pushing, and to fight through the times when he’ll want to quit.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to watch from the stands, fighting back tears, and hugging his guts out after every practice. 

Parenting and writing - neither ‘job’ is for the weak of heart.