The HEA Cafe

Change is one of those things that some people find terrifying while others find exhilarating.  I fall into the second grouping.  At least, I’ve always thought I did.

Change is good for the soul.  It keeps us moving and learning and advancing, both on a personal level and also a professional one.  Yet, even though I believe this, I still find myself hesitating when it comes to acting on those changes I know are due.

I’m not sure why I hesitate.  Maybe it’s a fear of the unknown.

But couldn’t this fear of the unknown also be why some people fear change?  It’s the element of the unknown that frightens and not the actual act of making changes?  More specifically the fear of the outcome of those changes?

It seems that a new year is always a good time for people to start thinking about and making changes.  Only instead of change, we call them goals or resolutions.  Still, if you succeed in reaching and maintaining these, do they not become changes in your lifestyle?  In your writing?  In your world?

I’ve set a course for change this year.  To be a better writer I plan to write more and on a better writing schedule.  To be a better person I plan to spend more time with family and friends.  To live a healthier lifestyle and change my world I plan to train for a 5k, eat healther and take better care of body.

Even though I fear the unknown as much as anyone else, I believe that these changes are the best thing for me.

How do you feel about changes?  Share your thoughts?

Tess Harrison
Suspense with a sexy edge
The search for the Dusk Diamonds is on!
Light of Day Available Now from Cobblestone Press! 

Does this happen to anyone but me? You’re reading along and find that you’ve misspelled a word. That instead of cheek you’ve wrote check. Not once but every single time you’ve used that word through out an entire 400 page manuscript. Or even still chef instead of chief and vice versa. This drives me crazy. Because no matter that I’ve read and reread the manuscript. I’m still finding these types of misspellings.

And I always have to look up how to spell refrigerator. Always. I can never spell that word. Thank God for spell checker! But spell checker can’t catch everything. How about this? I’m happily, merrily reading along and discover that I have this sentence.

She wouldn’t surround that again for anyone. Well, I hope not!!  It should have read surrender that again.

Why doesn’t my brain catch these things while I’m editing, revising, proofing, submitting . . .

You thought you wanted to come here. But instead you had them hear it instead.

They red something without a paint brush, when all they really had to do was read it.

Relying on spell checker wouldn’t catch these spelling errors. Even reading a page doesn’t catch all of them. Because you’re mind is in the zone. You wrote it. You know what it should say, so your mind automatically fills in the blanks, and corrects the errors.

What are some ways to help with this problem? What do you do to try and catch these types of errors before the story goes out the door? If you’re critique partners are as good as mine they point them out for me, but sometimes if I’m editing or changing some things based on their critique they may not see that passage again if I made the same mistake twice.

I’ve recently been reoutlining a story that was basically already written.  The first draft at least.  It needed work, editing and some revision, but it was pretty much complete.  Only when I dove into the editing I realized something wasn’t working.  The story was there, but it just felt clunky.  I blamed it on the heroine and her history.  She just felt off to me.

While I was trying to force some answers out of her, I was left with one really huge question.  A question which had nothing to do with the heroine, but everything to do with the hero.  I thought I had him all figured out.  Turns out I didn’t.  As I pushed a little harder and dug a little deeper, I realized he was the culprit to my heartache with the story, and the real reason everything concerning this story was out of sorts.

He was doing things with so much conviction I knew there was more to him than he told me.  So I pushed him to open up.  At first he refused, but I eventually got him to spill his guts.  Wow.  It was an eye opener for me, and I’ve been digging in and enjoying every minute of his revelations.  Even the research and fact I’m going to have rewrite this story hasn’t bothered me in the least.

For me, the joy of writing comes from the characters-their history, emotion and depth.  When they open up and tell me their story instead of me telling it to them is more inspiring than anything else ever could be.  I love to hear their voices and share their experiences.

I am a plotter and I probably always will be.  However, this is only true to a point.  I like to outline the story and the basics of the plot.  The real magic occurs when the character’s take the outline and show me how to wield it into their story.  Even if it means going back and reoutlining the entire story and starting over.  In the end, it’s worth it and where the real joy is at.

~Tess Harrison

Hi!  I’m Tess Harrison, and I write sensual romantic suspense for Cobblestone Press.  Today is my first day in the HEA Café.  I’m really excited to be here.  So excited, in fact, I tried to decide for several days what in the world I would blog about for my first post.  I tossed several topics around, but nothing seemed to really stick until yesterday.  I ordered a few books (part of a birthday present) and was inspired.

The order process wasn’t as inspiring as the process I went through to finally, and kind of painfully, narrow down my book selection to three books.  And well, since books are the reason we’re all here, I knew I had the right topic.

My adventure first began when I saw a referral to a book on craft, How to Write Killer Fiction.  I instinctively knew I had to have this book.  I couldn’t wait to purchase it.  It’s been awhile since I bought a book on the writing craft.  However, I didn’t purchase it right away.  I decided to hold back for a little while.  Several weeks passed and I still wanted the book.  By then, I told myself to hold out for my birthday and then treat myself.  Who could argue with that, right?  This is when the adventure started to take off.

While I waited for the big day to arrive, I started to see more and more reviews for other books.  Books that intrigued me with their mysterious, dark and twisted plots.  So I did what any self respecting lover of books would do, I went out to Amazon and started researching them.  This prompted me to find more books that drew me in.   With each new click of the mouse, I added more books to my Amazon cart.

When my birthday finally arrived, I went to purchase my book on craft and found a cart of fifteen books.  I knew I couldn’t purchase all fifteen books at once.  My husband would kill me.  So I had to start weeding through the selection.  I sat and stared at the screen asking the books to make the decision for me, because I wanted (and still do) them all.   The books really were no help, because each one appealed to me on a different level.  Finally, I moved the first book out my cart and into my ‘save for later’ wish list.  In that instant, the pain began.

Slowly, I whittled my cart down.  A week and half later, I purchased my first three books.  And that craft book was not in the first round.  My mood has shifted since I came upon that first book.  Even though I still want the craft book, when it came down to the wire and time to place my order, I wanted research books and pleasure books more.

Books are so much fun.  Each book I looked at promised me something new.  Something exciting and different.  That’s why I love reading and writing.  It gives me the chance to live in a different era, in a different world, a new adventure… I could go on but I think you know what I mean.  It’s for these very reasons it was also so painful to have to say no to those other books.

The books that made the first purchase round was a book on private investigating, a book about how to stop a stalker and a dark, twisted paranormal.  I can’t wait.  Funny how my mindset shifted pretty drastically.  The first books I added a few weeks ago were the craft book I mentioned, a book on serial rapists and a book about the criminal mind.  Of course, I still want them all and will eventually purchase each of the books left in my wish list.

So, what about you?  Have you ordered any books recently?  How do you decide which books to purchase first?

Tess Harrison
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