The HEA Cafe

Archive for February, 2009

This was an unexpected book. Admiral Philip Guthrie was a secondary character in Gabriel’s Ghost (RITA-award winner) and more than a bit of an antagonist. In Shades of Dark–as one reviewer noted–he began to “sport some hero duds.” But even then, I had no idea he’d get his own book.

But did he ever! And wow, he turned out so…yummy! Which just goes to prove that author’s don’t know their characters as well as they think they do.

And reviewers:

“Hope’s Folly … is a rapid-fire romp through futuristic political intrigue and high-risk passion… The tug of war between decorum and passion keeps the romantic intrigue smoldering…. With Hope’s Folly, Linnea Sinclair builds on a secure reputation as a leading fashioner of science fiction romance. She straddles and blends these genres with a unique bravura and wit.” –Philip K. Jason, PhD, Naples (FL) Press Club 

“Ms. Sinclair shares her phenomenal writing talent with a well-built sci-fi world, and characters who charm their way right into the reader’s heart. Hope, fear and longing play heavy roles in Hope’s Folly as a crew struggles to survive, and an uncertain attraction progresses into a romance that sizzles.”  –Darque Reviews
http://darquereviews.blogspot.com/2008/12/review-hopes-folly-by-linnea-sinclair.html 

“If you’re a fan of science fiction and romance, this book does both equally well and in spades. Due to it standing well on its own, I would even say it’s a great book to start off a first encounter with her work, and most definitely the perfect way for more seasoned Sinclair readers to continue. This is classic Sinclair; evidence that the author knows no bounds and readily takes us readers on one imaginative and thrilling ride after another. Truly an excellent book. Five Scoops!”  –Lurv A La Mode
http://lurvalamode.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/arc-review-hopes-folly/ 

“Hope’s Folly is simply phenomenal. I absolutely did not want to put the story down. It had action, suspense, mystery, and passion.” — Kathy Andrico – KathysReviewCorner.com 
http://www.kathysreviewcorner.com/reviews/SinclairLinnea/SinclairHopesFolly.html 

“Once again Linnea Sinclair delivers. Hope’s Folly is the perfect combination of an action-packed sci-fi space romp and a heart-warming romance. A keeper.” –The Book Smugglers 
http://thebooksmugglers.com/2008/12/smugglivus-muy-special-book-review.html 

Romantic Time BOOKreviews magazine named Hope’s Folly an RT TOP PICK and gives it its highest rating of 4-1/2 stars:

“Hang on to your phasers as Sinclair blasts off on another rip-roaring space adventure. In previous books, Admiral Philip Guthrie has been an aloof legend, but in this page-turner he’s grappling with overwhelming odds. The technical details Sinclair provides add to the intensity of the story by keeping readers in the belly of the wounded ship along with its intrepid crew. A roller-coaster ride in the extreme! “ 

Please check out the book video on my site: http://www.linneasinclair.com/books.html  (click on VIEW TRAILER).

And oh yes, of course, there’s a cat in the book…

~Linnea
www.linneasinclair.com

 

From RITA Award-winning author Linnea Sinclair comes a high-stakes interstellar adventure infused with thrilling romance. 

HOPE’S FOLLY
It’s an impossible mission on a derelict ship called HOPE’S FOLLY. A man who feels he can’t love. A woman who believes she’s unlovable.
And an enemy who will stop at nothing to crush them both.

Admiral Philip Guthrie is in an unprecedented position: on the wrong end of the law, leading a rag-tag band of rebels against the oppressive Imperial forces. Or would be, if he can get his command ship—the derelict cruiser called Hope’s Folly—functioning. Not much can rattle Philip’s legendary cool—but the woman who helps him foil an assassination attempt on Kirro Station will. She’s the daughter of his best friend and first commander—a man who died while under Philip’s command, and whose death is on Philip’s conscience.

Rya Bennton has been in love with Philip Guthrie since she was a girl. But can her childhood fantasies survive an encounter with the hardened man, and newly-minted rebel leader, once she learns the truth about her father’s death? Or will her passion for revenge put not only their hearts but their lives at risk?  

          Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
·         Publisher: Bantam Spectra (February 24, 2009)
·         Language: English
·         ISBN-10: 0553592181
·         ISBN-13: 978-0553592184

I love writing about strong women– past and present.  And my latest heroine Dorritt Mott is a woman ahead of her time. In 1821, the majority of people in the US and Europe considered women less intelligent and less competent than men. Also the same majority thought that any person who didn’t have white skin was inferior too. There was no political correctness in 1821.

Dorritt who opposes slavery and who wants to run her own life is very aware that she is out of step with her times. But her innate honesty won’t let her go along with what everyone else thinks is right.
Here’s what Library Journal had to say about Dorritt’s story, The Desires of Her Heart, the first book in my newest historical saga.

Cote. Lyn The Desires of Her Heart. Avon Inspire. (Texas: Star of Destiny, Bk. 1). Feb. 2009. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-06-137341-1. pap. $12.95.

“After gambling away his family’s estate, Kilbride decides to pack up and move the family to the new Texas territory, where land is free for the taking. But 25-year-old Dorritt knows her stepfather doesn’t have the sense or character to lead them there; instead, she relies on their wagon train’s rugged scout to guide them. Dorritt trusts Quinn until she discovers his prior business dealings with Kilbride. Dorritt, who wants to be free of her stepfather so she can live her own dreams, discovers, though, that her dreams may include a man after all. In her new series launch, the RITA nominee and award–winning author (Blessed Assurance, “Women of Ivy Manor” series) demonstrates her skill at creating strong female protagonists in compelling stories that will captivate historical romance readers.”

And today happens to be the release date! I’m smiling!

I’ve also started my own blog  http://www.strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com. If you’d like to read stories about other brave women in real life and good fiction, drop by on Tuesday and Thursday.
Lyn Cote

Image by Crenshaw1979 via Flickr

I’m  thinking about the weather today because I live in Florida, and right now it feels like the low 30sF with the wind chill.  And that ain’t right.  But if I wasn’t writing this, I’d be hard at work on my novel because I find the weather affects my mood.

When it’s cold, I hunker down and write because the only heat in the house during the day is the space heater in my office.  When it’s rainy I get gloomy, so that’s a good time to write angsty scenes.  When it’s sunny and warm, I sit out on the porch with my laptop, and that helps me add color to my scenes, ’cause I’m surrounded by blooming flowers and trees.

Hot, humid days are for steamy scenes, of course. A low pressure system is for hurricanes, and for writing depressing characters. A high pressure system is for the hero and heroine adventuring.  Fog spurs on mystery, hot and dry conditions–wait a minute, this is Florida.  We don’t get to have hot and dry.

So that’s what it’s like where I live.  What are your best weather conditions for writing?

http://dailyroutines.typepad.com/daily_routines/ 

From the above site I was able to have a peak into some authors daily routines. Enjoy a glimpse of how others work.

Alice Munro

As a young author taking care of three small children, Munro learned to write in the slivers of time she had, churning out stories during children’s nap times, in between feedings, as dinners baked in the oven. It took her nearly twenty years to put together the stories for her first collection, Dance of the Happy Shades, published in 1968 when Munro was thirty-seven.The Atlantic, December 14, 2001
My comment: Alice was so dedicated it scares me. Her stories must have burned at her brain until she had to write around everything else in her life. But I like the idea of using slivers of time.

Toni Morrison

INTERVIEWER
You have said that you begin to write before dawn. Did this habit begin for practical reasons, or was the early morning an especially fruitful time for you?
MORRISON
Writing before dawn began as a necessity–I had small children when I first began to write and I needed to use the time before they said, Mama–and that was always around five in the morning.
 

My comment: I’m tired just thinking of this. How did she function throughout the rest of the day.

Truman Capote

INTERVIEWER
What are some of your writing habits? Do you use a desk? Do you write on a machine?

CAPOTE
I am a completely horizontal author. I can’t think unless I’m lying down, either in bed or stretched on a couch and with a cigarette and coffee handy. I’ve got to be puffing and sipping. As the afternoon wears on, I shift from coffee to mint tea to sherry to martinis. No, I don’t use a typewriter. Not in the beginning. I write my first version in longhand (pencil). Then I do a complete revision, also in longhand. Essentially I think of myself as a stylist, and stylists can become notoriously obsessed with the placing of a comma, the weight of a semicolon. Obsessions of this sort, and the time I take over them, irritate me beyond endurance. The Paris Review, Issue 16, 1957

My comment: if I tried writing horizontally I would fall asleep. Besides my arms hurt just thinking about it. But I do some of my best creative thinking while horizontal. I often use a small light to write notes during the night as my ideas begin to sort themselves out.

Isaac Asimov

His usual routine was to awake at 6 A.M., sit down at the typewriter by 7:30 and work until 10 P.M. 

In “In Memory Yet Green,” the first volume of his autobiography, published in 1979, he explained how he became a compulsive writer. His Russian-born father owned a succession of candy stores in Brooklyn that were open from 6 A.M. to 1 A.M. seven days a week. Young Isaac got up at 6 o’clock every morning to deliver papers and rushed home from school to help out in the store every afternoon. If he was even a few minutes late, his father yelled at him for being a folyack, Yiddish for sluggard. Even more than 50 years later, he wrote: “It is a point of pride with me that though I have an alarm clock, I never set it, but get up at 6 A.M. anyway. I am still showing my father I’m not a folyack.” The New York Times, April 7, 1992

My comment: LOL. Sounds like a great work ethic. Sometimes, too many times, authors wait to FEEL like writing. Issac’s comments prove that getting at the work is more important that sitting around waiting for something inspirational to drive us to it.

Roger Ebert

Morning routine: I usually get up around 7. I make oatmeal in my rice cooker. Then I take an hour-long walk: outside if the weather’s good; on my treadmill if it’s cold. Then I shower, shave and go to the first of three movies I see on many weekdays. The New York Times Magazine, February 13, 2005

My comment: What? Going to the movies is work? Bring it on. Shaping thoughts and whispy ideas into a story and getting words on the page, now that’s work.

‘Creative work only seems like a magic trick to people who don’t understand that it’s ultimately still work.’

Do you ever sabotage your dreams because you refuse to change? Or take a chance? Or admit you’re on the wrong path?

As January’s fresh start fades, we’re at a crossroads. The past stretches out behind us and the future before us. There are as many roads, physical, mental and spiritual, leading away from this moment as there are stars in the heavens. We can hang onto the past and the mistakes we’ve made, rehashing old wounds and reliving bad habits. We can freeze in the moment and refuse to look back or scan the roads ahead, in essence stalling our lives and our careers for a comfortable status quo.

Or we can risk everything and step forward into the unknown.

If saying the word unknown makes you break out in a sweat, I’m right there with you. So much pressure. So much risk.

I was at a crossroads last month with my career. For over a year, I’d been on a different page than my agent.  I assumed the fault was mine; I hadn’t made my expectations clear. Writing everything down, I filled a page with what I wanted and then had a heart to heart talk with her. She reassured me and we moved forward. Unfortunately, within a few months, I again felt we were on two very different pages. I tried addressing my expectations again but now felt like a pesky child instead of a career-focused author. Were my expectations too great? Probably, but my solution was to avoid the issue all together.

According to quantum physics, the hovering of an electron in all dimensions of possibility is what propels the leap to a new nuclear orbit. For me, life is a compass. If I start off in one direction and something doesn’t feel right, I turn my inner compass in a new direction and start off again. However there are times when nothing feels right or what feels right defies logic, and, oh my, I am nothing but logical! So, what do I do? I insist on maintaining status quo. That’s exactly what I did with my agent dilemma. I hovered. I maintained. In fact, I spent a whole year hoping I was finally going to get on the same page with her.

Our styles were too different, and come this January, I knew I had to make a decision. I had to stop hovering in the same orbit and hoping for something better. Having spent years trying to attain a great agent, my logical brain scoffed at my intuition’s insistence that it was time to move forward. To take the step into the unknown.

But during that year, I sold a novel and a short story with no agent involvement. The death grip I had on being an “agented author” had become less strenuous. I had seen possibilities that excited me to my core. Even my logical brain couldn’t stop thinking about them.

So if you’re hovering, do it with an open mind. Your electrons will be moving and your orbit’s going to change, guaranteed. The trick is to see the opportunities that exist on any path or orbit that comes your way.

 

No matter what crossroad you find yourself at this year, cut yourself some slack about picking the right path. Remember, we’re all in this together and the possibilities are as abundant as stars in the sky.

 

P.S. My first paranormal comedy novella, Witches Anonymous, comes out February 24^th. I took a risk and entered a contest – and I NEVER win contests – and found myself on a new career path with this story