The HEA Cafe

I have an appointment this afternoon to join another member of our library foundation board at a framing shop. I’ve served on the Alachua County (Florida) Library District Foundation board for years, and our purpose is to raise one million dollars for our library endowment fund.

So why am I going to a frame shop? Because one of my tasks on the board was to oversee renovation of our meeting room at the Headquarters Library. The space was industrial and utilitarian, and what we wanted was a board room–a place that made people feel when they walked in that it was more than functional, it was attractive. Attractive rooms make people more relaxed, and we hope that translates into not only a nice meeting space for us, but also a room that will help potential donors see our organization as successful and worthy of bequests.

At the frame shop I’ll have to weigh in with my opinion on matting, framing the art for our board room, the lighting, the colors in the board room, etc. These details make the difference between something that makes someone respond positively, and something that jars their sensibilities.

This doesn’t come naturally to me, in decorating or in writing. At home, I’d hire a professional. In my writing, I write myself notes. I can be pounding away at a tense scene full of luscious dialog and I’ll have to stop and write in brackets [SOUNDS! SMELLS! SIGHT!] to remind myself to go back and fill in the details that make a scene work.

See, I know what it looks like in my head. You, the reader, may not. Not until I add all the little things that make a scene well rounded, that contribute to your understanding of who the characters are and what’s motivating them.

This is also useful when you don’t want to interrupt the flow of the story with details that absolutely, positively can be filled in later. I do this most with clothing. Unless there’s a pivotal plot point revolving around a piece of clothing (like the neckerchief that hides the lack of an “Adam’s apple” in a cross-dressing story), I can go back and fill it in later. So my first rough draft has things like “She studied her [BALL GOWN] in the mirror while debating whether or not to wear the [JEWELRY, SHAWL?] and thought about what she had say to him tonight…”

Clearly, what matters here in the big picture is what she’s going to say to him tonight. But the details! The reader wants to know what she’s wearing, and it makes a difference. Is it demure? Sexy? Finely tailored or hastily altered? All of these details make a difference, but you don’t necessarily need to agonize over them right away–you can revisit them later.

It’s not the devil in the details, it’s the beauty of your writing. If there’s a devil in this mix, it’s allowing yourself to get slowed down by the details. Just remember to go back and revisit them, and the details will help the reader respond positively to your story,

    Everyone knows how wonderful it is to be a romance writer (RW). The RW sits in a lovely garret overlooking a picturesque street with vendors who glance up and wave at her, mysterious (and handsome) men striding about and beautiful women hustling into the shops. Or perhaps you picture the RW in a cabana on the beach with waves breaking on the shore and seagulls crying. It’s all very romantic. Or is it? Is that reality?

     Okay, I admit I once spent a few days sitting on a beach in Hawaii as I plotted a book. It was very romantic. However, it’s a little pricey and quite impractical to do regularly.

  And I once had a holiday trailer. Is that close enough to a cabana? It was parked almost next to a tumbling river under some trees. I loved to escape there and sit in a comfie lounge chair and work. However, the price of parking the trailer became too steep, but more, everyone else decided it was a lovely place and wanted to accompany me. So much for solitude.     You hear of authors who set up shop in a coffee shop. That sounds kind of romantic. I once got happily abandoned at such a place and worked on a story idea for several hours. But close to home…well, I live in a small town and too many people stop by to visit for that to work.

     There are libraries. We have a college nearby and the library is a great place to work. No one notices or cares that you hunker down in a little cubical and scribble or type like mad. But it means dragging my books, my laptop, and my body from point A (my home) to point B (the library). And because I have responsibilities at home, I must take my cell phone and … well, you can guess what happens next.

     So this RW compromises. I have some favorite spots and I recreate them in my mind. After all, I have a rather active imagination. And I can do all this while holed up in my office. I have all my research books at hand. I can field phone calls, answer questions and take care of the life that takes places a few feet away—outside my office. It doesn’t sound very romantic until you take a look at the computer screen and see that I’m not here in this office, I am lost in the midst of a raging snowstorm, or sitting amidst spring violets on a picnic with the man of my dreams. Now that’s romantic.

     How about you RW? Where is the most romantic spot you’ve written from? What is your favorite way to create the romance in your writing corner? Do you need anything to put you in the romance mood? Remember this is for writing purposes only.

I hope everyone has a blessed Imbolc, and Happy Groundhog Day! While I write this post I’m listening to the snow plow out on the street, so I’m hoping for an early spring.
Last month, I received the cover for my upcoming historical paranormal to be released at New Concepts Publishing, so I thought I’d post it here and share it with the readers of this blog. Doorway to the Stars was a novella, but this one weighs it at a much longer word count. It’s classified as an Epic Novel over at NCP so get ready for some heavy reading!

The hero is an English Spy and the heroine is a witch, so there’s a lot of excitement and adventure rolled into this one set against the drama of the Napoleonic Wars. Add into the equation that he’s immune to her powers and she’s got some trouble on her hands!
And don’t forget to check out my futuristic novella, Doorway to the Stars which was released on December 13!

~Marly

It’s hard to believe that it’s already February, and that KISS OF FIRE, the first book in my new Dragonfire series, will be on sale next Tuesday. It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for Quinn to head out into the world. The cover for KISS OF FIRE is so fabulous - I’ve had a postcard of it on my bulletin board since July and it’s staying there!

Looks like I’m not the only one who is crazy for Quinn - here are a couple of early reviews:

Five Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies!
“From beginning to end KISS OF FIRE held me enchanted. Over the course of an entire day all I could do was sit and read. Quinn Tyrrell was not a typical hero for me. He was solitary. He wasn’t that thrilled with being a dragon. He basically wanted to be left alone to live his life alone. His destiny came in the form of a tiny human named Sara who rocked his entire world off its foundation. While Sara and Quinn were destined mates, it took more than a few mere words to make Sara a believer. I have to say though, she bucked up under pressure and became the Seer she was meant to be. The fact that she and Quinn fell in love? Icing on a very powerful and fire breathing cake.

Deborah Cooke has definitely made me a fan. I am now lying in wait for the second book in this new and extremely exciting series called KISS OF FURY whose hero, Donovan, is introduced in KISS OF FIRE. August really needs to hurry!”

Read the whole Junkies review here.

Four and a half stars from Romantic Times!
“Deborah Cooke, aka bestseller Claire Delacroix, dips into the paranormal realm with her sizzling new Dragonfire series. With a self-described loner as a hero, this heroine has to adjust to her new role in the supernatural and establish bonds of trust. Efficient plotting moves the story at a brisk pace and paves the way for more
exciting battles to come.”

Woo HOOO! Read the cover copy on my site and click through to an excerpt here.

If you’re curious about book #2, KISS OF FURY, the excerpt and cover are up for that, too.

And now, I have to get back to writing KISS OF FATE, book number three.

Deborah
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