The HEA Cafe

I have to say that it was quite exciting to be doing a book signing. Mr Kate added to my nerves considerably by a) deciding to vacuum the lawn or something 15 minutes before we were supposed to be there and b)by telling me I’d got the wrong day just as we pulled off the freeway. I didn’t laugh. He was lucky to survive.

Barnes & Noble even had a big poster at the from of the store with my name and the cover of “Roping the Wind” on it! Apparently, she had to down pedal the “Simply Sexual” one to avoid complaints from Saturday shoppers with kids, and I totally understood that. Debra, the B&N community relations manager loves romance novels and thank god for people like her-she was thrilled to see me, got me water and ice and even had a pen ready in case I’d forgotten to bring one!

So here I am, looking pensive as shoppers mill around me. I was strategically placed between the cafe and the new arrivals tables so I felt a little like a fish in a bowl, or one of those Victorian ladies waiting patiently at the side of the dance floor while being ignored by all the men.

And yes, people really do ask strange questions. My favorite was, “Did you write this?” Um, yes, otherwise why would I be sitting here? Of course, I didn’t say that, I just smiled graciously and admitted it. I REALLY DID get asked where the bathroom was as well!!

Look! Real people in a line, for me! Okay, so I know some of them, but hey, they came out to support me and buy my books so I love them all.

Because of what I write, I expected a few oddballs as well, and yes, they turned up to say hi, every time Mr Kate wandered off to read Motor magazines. I ‘think’ they just wanted to see what an erotic romance writer looked like and I ‘think’ I probably disappointed them seeing as I wasn’t dressed in black leather or brandishing a whip!

So,it was fun and Mr Kate took loads of photos, I felt famous for at least 5 minutes and that was quite enough for me Back to the writing cave!

THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER is out!!  After months of waiting, most not so patiently, it’s here! 

Lucy is the devil’s daughter (literally) who’s trying to get the hell out of. . . well. . .hell!  LOL  If she can take the souls of this unsuspecting family, she can trade them for her freedom, and she’s willing to do anything to succeed.

Anything, that is, except actually work.  But work she must, and it’s more than just the physical chores she’s expected to do.  Her new husband is making her work for his soul, too.  Unlike most men, he won’t give in to his obvious lust, but insists they build something more before they get physical.

Lucy’s got her work cut out for her and just when she thinks she’s finally going to get what she wants, she realizes what she really wants has changed.  And that is going to mess up everything!

I’m so excited that this book is out now and I hope you enjoy it, too. 

Cheers!!!

I’m not as far along as I’d like with my WIP (Work in Progress) because I sent a partial to my agent, and he sent back a note saying, essentially, “Kill the backstory and start with someone bleeding.”

When I saw this I slapped myself upside the head and said “D’oh!” because it took me back some years to when I worked in news. I’ve been a news reporter, radio news anchor, radio news director and producer of the local TV news. There’s a nasty little saying in broadcasting: “If it bleeds, it leads.” This means if you have a shooting, horrific accident or tornado, it goes at the top of the newscast. In a newspaper, it’s called “Over the fold”.

There’s a reason for this: You want to grab peoples’ attention and hold it. A story about the proposed tax hike is important to everyone in the county, but it’s a snoozefest–unless you can tie it to some poor schlub who’s going to lose the little hardscrabble piece of land his family’s owned since they settled it before the Civil War. That’s exciting! That grabs attention! It tugs at your heart-strings!

It’s just like the first and most basic rule of newsgathering: “Dog bites man isn’t news. Man bites dog is.” Get the reader’s attention by showing them something they’re not expecting. The ordinary isn’t news, the out-of-the-ordinary is news. One of my best journalism professors would snidely scrawl “So what?” in red ink across my news stories if all the facts were correct, but the story was b-o-r-i-n-g.

And he was right. It’s the same thing with writing your novel. “Make someone bleed!” is good advice. Don’t get sucked into loading your backstory up front because your reader 1. Likely doesn’t need as much information as you think she needs and 2. You can work it into the story down the road. Make the reader ask “What? How did she get onto a pirate ship? How’s she going to stay alive on a pirate ship? Is that guy going to die?”

They’ll keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. You can always insert details of her terrible childhood later. Think about all the exciting books you’ve read, the ones that kept you up past your bedtime ‘cause you had to find out what happened next–if you can hook ‘em at the beginning and keep the excitement rolling, the reader will stay along for the full ride.

I go through extremes of emotion while working on a story. It starts when I come up with a new idea. This is a GREAT idea. The best one ever. This one is going to be my break out novel. I’m euphoric. I’m energetic, outgoing, and deliriously happy.  

Then comes trying to shape an idea that is nothing more than bits of fog into a solid structure. Ever try building a snowman out of fog? That’s how it feels. Each writer has his or her own way of getting from idea to story and whatever way works for them, it’s the correct way. My way requires I have a rough (emphasis on rough) outline of the story. Which, in turn, requires I know the characters, who they are, what they want and WHY and how they get from beginning to end. Suddenly that beautiful, gold-tinted idea is nothing but mud. I know I’ll never figure out this story. I whine and cry and email every writing friend I have and tell them how HARD this particular story is. How stupid the characters are. How I’ve eaten myself out of house and home trying, trying, TRYING to make some sense out of all those quicksilver bits of ideas. Not even ideas, really. Just unshaped somethings in the back of my mind. It’s like trying to recall a name that’s on the tip of your tongue. And just like the name often comes at three a.m. and you sit straight up in bed, groan and slap your forehead in exasperation, so it is with many of my ideas. The solution hits me in the middle of the night. I’ve learned not to expect a lot of sleep during this phase of the story. And others have learned this is probably a good time to find excuses to be as far away from the house as possible.  

Once I have a rough idea of the story, I realize how brilliant I am. It’s the best plot ever. This stage lasts until I start chapter one and realize I will never be able to find the words and structure to write the thing in my head. Trying to capture it is like trying to bottle sunshine. It can’t be done. I might as well pitch the whole thing and do something productive. Like laundry. Vacuuming. Flipping burgers.  

I flip flop throughout the entire process. No, I’m not schizophrenic. Okay, maybe a little. You don’t have to be crazy to be a writer, but it helps.  

William Faulkner says, “I listen to the voices.” I just wish my ‘voices’ spoke up loud and clear instead of whispering behind their hands in the background. Maybe I’m more like E.M. Forster who said, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” Seems I have to write it down, no matter how confusing, in order to sort it out.  

By the way, my advice to anyone who wants to be a writer: Either accept bouts of insanity as part of the process and embrace it, or go flip burgers. Or am I the only who goes through this roller coaster of emotions? Or have some of you found ways of making the path more level?

Here’s the cover of my May Love Inspired Historical release. It’s called The Road to Love.